Mass Effect: United Species Aliance
by Delfim the Black kitsune
Summary: So... blew up the reapers, and the galaxy is at peace... nah, not really. The council withdrew their support to take care of their own, Earth was in shambles there seemed to be no hope. Until another species made contact. Today, The United Species Alliance stands strong against the cold Galaxy. Self-insert/HAREM. Based on events from the main Mass effect games.
1. Chapter 1

**Delfim: **Hey how's it going bros? Delfim the Black Kitsune here. And this is an idea that has been haunting me. Sorry, no funny intros, I just want to get this off my chest.

MASS EFFECT FIC!

Okay, Post Reaper War with the destroy option selected with a twist. Shepard survives and this is many years after the war.

OCs! Male HumanxFemale Quarianxfemaleturianxasari here, you have been warned.

Contains autistic character, lots of talks, may have a lemon at one point and maybe a new species. I am thinking of this as I write.

Council are pricks! Specially Salarians and most Asari. You have been warned.

Also this starts with Shepard but really the main character is not him, nor any of his crew members. You have been warned.

Here we go:

**Chapter 1 Prologue.**

Admiral John Shepard, War Hero, Savior of the Citadel, Destroyer of Collectors and Reaper's Bane sighed as he rubbed his temples. The darkness that came from outside was indicative that it was well pass the time to be awake, yet he was, remembering all that had happened in these many years.

He remembered the Crucible. That thing haunted his memories like mad. Being given three choices, and none sit well with him. Destroy all synthetic life? What of the Geth? What of EDI? He looked away as he was presented with the chance to control all Reapers. And then what? What if he wasn't powerful enough to keep them under control? What then? He couldn't risk it.

And then the final option. Synthesis. It seemed so alluring, the final evolution of life. Everyone sharing the same DNA, everyone together, no more war. Edi would live with Joker, the Geth would survive the war. Everyone would come out happy. All he had to do was throw himself to the beam and die.

It seemed like the best choice, but as he walked to it, Shepard frowned. Join organic with Synthetic? Isn't that what the Reapers were doing? When Saren had said similar words, he told him to fuck off, so why was he accepting this now as a solution? And even if he gave those giant machines emotions, would they really stop fighting? Or perhaps get angry and attack even more? He remembered as cold realization hit him like cold water: he was being misled, perhaps even indoctrinated.

The Reapers wanted to accelerate the process! If he went forward with this, than life would have no point. No one died, so no life was created. No evolution, only stagnation. And stagnation led to death, it was inevitable. The death of all life. NO! Dead Reapers is the way, just like Anderson had told him.

So without another thought, he started shooting. As the Crucible exploded, he smiled sadly. EDI, the Geth, they would be lost. All for ending the war. But there was no other choice. The threat had to end. The manipulations had to stop.

**The Reapers had to die!**

He was found in the debris, barely alive, missing and arm and crippled, with more scars than a Krogan Battlemaster, but it was worth it. The reapers were dead. And besides, a good amount of medi-gel, some therapy and a good amount of clone tissue did wonders.

Surprisingly, he learned, the catalyst was misleading him more than he thought. The Mass Relays exploded, yes. The reapers died, yes. But nothing else. No other VI or AI died. Even those with Reaper tech suffered only a bit.

The Geths survived because while they had reaper upgrades, no hardware was reaper tech and only half of their software was reaper enhanced. In other words, they lost a lot of processing power, but they survived.

Even EDI did, though her body was completely lost, since it was mostly reaper tech. After the Normandy was repaired, thanks in no small part to the very capable group of engineers, and they had returned to Earth, EDI was given a new body, to the great satisfaction of one Flight Lieutenant. This time he really baked a cake!

You may ask what happened after that. Earth was a stumble, laying in ruins and smoldering ash. The council backed away licking their own injuries, refusing to help stating they had their own problems to deal with. The Krogans, were left with no contact and no way of their world due to not possessing any ship or resources to build one. It seemed like no one would or could help this time. But there was one race that didn't back down. That even with the Mass Relays gone and the ability to reach places impaired, refused to give up.

The Quarians.

The little suit devils had their homeworld, the Geth, resources and their brilliance, but they soon realized that with no knowledge of how to farm the land, how to create medical supplies and without anyone to trade, they would not survive. Spurred by a very eager Admiral Tali'Zorrah, from almost nothing they build Space ships to contact the other species. In addition, the first they contacted, were the humans.

Once contact was established, things started to look up. Humans had enough knowledge of all the things the Quarian needed to help out, and with the Quarians help, they too slowly got back on their feet. Plus the geth made reconstruction way easier. It wasn't official, but these three species had forged an alliance from need, one stronger than any could have anticipated.

Which only became stronger when Shepard tried to contact Tsuchanka, only to find it… thriving. The Krogans were survivors, and even when they were left stranded on their own planet, they still thrived. Cities were built, and even vegetation was growing. However, they missed Space, so when Wrex heard about what the humans and Quarians were doing, he jumped right in. 4 different species working together: Humans, Quarians, Geth and Krogan.

You thought that was it, no, for Shepard doesn't do things half way. A very old and grateful ally contacted him: The Rachni Queen. It was difficult, but everyone soon saw the benefits of having these bugs on their side when they showed enormous capability to adapt and learn, and their ingenuity regarding weapons of mass destruction. Really they had the most whicked minds on that aspect.

So they came together, bonding and thriving because of the union. But what name could they use. Ironically, they called themselves the **United Species Alliance**, _**USA! **_Let's just say that some of the humans still laugh at how fitting the name was.

The USA was run similar to the council, with a representative of each race. This representative, however, was a voted figure and had to have certain qualifications, like having served an amount of years in the military, or having enough work on diplomacy and such, or at times both. Shepard ended being selected as the Human representative, due to having had the most contact with other species. Tali was her people's representative, Wrex let nobody but himself represent them, Geth Primarch was selected for harboring over 3000 Geth programs in his platform and always keeping in touch with many more of them at any given moment and the Rachni Queen trained a specific child to represent them, who took the name of Kusah.

And just like the council, while they had the representatives, each planet, colony and station had their own democratically assigned leader. Still all of them answered to the Admiralty Board, as they were called… to Tali's amusement.

However, unlike the Council, they did not have anything similar to the Specters, as no one was above the law. The closest to it where the new N7, whose training not only had the 4 organic species covered now, but was much tougher due to Shepard sharing some secret training regimens he got from the Specters. He wasn't one of them anymore, no need to keep secrets.

Of course not all was well and good. The salarians, who largely kept themselves outside of the war, came out as the strongest Council Race due to losing very little men. This wouldn't be so bad, if it wasn't for two things: one, they hated the krogans. Two, they hated the humans. They wouldn't let go of the fact that the Krogans should receive the genophage again, as they feared the overgrown of population and, what they considered inevitable, reenact of the Krogan Rebellions. It took decades, but once the new genophage, one that they thought no one would ever cure, was ready, they advanced to Tsuchanka, hoping to get there before the Krogans could even build a spaceship. By then, the Krogans didn't stand alone anymore.

It was a devastating disaster for the Salarians as Human, Quarian and Geth ships fired upon them before they could reach Tsuchanka, not only foiling their plans, but also sending a message to the Galaxy that they would not be trifled with.

The salarians pleaded to the Council, who saw the threat of this alliance, to wage war. However, they were stopped by the lack of support: the Turians declared they would not enter in confrontations with this army after what happened both in the contact war and in the Reaper war. With that, both Elchor and Volus declared that they too wouldn't enter the war.

The Hanar, in their unique polite way, declared that they did not have enough assassin-trained drells to even scratch the opposing force, thus neither Hanar nor drell supported them.

The Asari, seeing that no one else was going to assist, withdrawn their support as well. While they resented humanity for Cerberus' part in the war, they had lost too much to be able to help.

Therefore, the war ended before it started. Or did it? With use of subterfuge, underhanded tactics and a few illegal methods, they striped humanity of its place in the council, revoked Shepard's Specter privileges and made it almost impossible for humans to live comfortably on the slowly rebuilding Citadel.

Now the Universe was divided in three great parts: Council Space, and USA space, and whatever didn't belong to the two, with places like Omega coming to mind.

Shepard sighed. He still wondered how things had turned up like this. When he united the species to fight the Reapers, he thought that after the war the universe would know peace. Now, the entire Galaxy seemed to break apart even more.

However, he realized that there was nothing that he could do now, and wouldn't have changed anything. Let the salarians be pissed, the krogan are far more trustworthy allies than those lab nerds. And if the quarians were able to look past their bloodied history, then why can't the salarians?

Suddenly a pair of slender pale arms wrapped around him. He smirked as he looked back to his lover. Tali'Zorrah smiled at him as her body molded to his back. Their entire apartment was built specifically so that Tali could walk around without having to be in her suit, something both enjoyed. Out there, she was the great Admiral Tali'Zorrah pas Rannoch. Here, she was his.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" asked Tali, concerned.

"Nothing, just checking our newest toy." Said Shepard with a grin, knowing this would rile her up.

"A toy?" asked Tali as if he was stupid. "A toy that puts the old Normandy to shame? I would love to see what you consider a real ship." She then looked at the data pad on his hand. In it where blueprints for a ship, the newest and most advanced one of the USA. After seeing the results from the Original Normandy, the most brilliant minds of the 5 races came together to come up with a ship that could both represent them and be as successful if not more than the legend from which it was inspired.

The slim white cockpit was in the middle of the ship, and ended in a curved tip, its windows allowing for 270º angle of vision. At each side came a white arm with blue lines each delimited by black lines. These extended beyond the cockpit, with several highlights were the weapons were held, like the new SHREDDER turrets, with six in each arm, three above and three bellow, and in the middle of the two arms, just below the line of sight of the cockpit, two cannons pointing to one another. Bellow the cockpit, a Thanix canyon made its appearance, something Shepard had asked for, knowing how useful they were against the Collector ship. After the cockpit, the ship developed into a pair of wings that pointed back. Of blue color with black tips, each wing has two thrusters, one mid wing and one close to the tip. In between the two wings was what looked like four thrusters put together in a square form. Below them was a single door that led to the hangar.

Overall, the ship looked like a well-armed frigate, except that everything was cutting edge technology: the Shredder turrets were made by the Geth and had 3 cannons each, two smaller used for rapid anti-missile and anti-frigate while the third bigger one to fire a short but powerful blast that would make even a cruiser think twice. If that didn't work… remember those cannons in the middle of the arms? These were for the prototype "Final Flash", an idea from the Rachni. One single and deadly blast laser that could tear a Dreadnaught to pieces, this thing is the ultimate weapon of this ship. Of course the weapon itself was only capable of firing one shot per time before becoming too hot and needing maintenance, thus it can only be used in emergencies.

If that wasn't enough, Krogan actually developed something: They call it the Bronk Armor, in memory of Talorg Bronk, the lucky krogan who came up with it. It was a unique combination of different metals, minerals from different planets and plastic components. Somehow it created a strong and durable hull that would be hard to breach. If the Normandy rammed into this ship, its Silarious armor would be filled with scratches, and the Bronk armor wouldn't even bulge. In the engines, a duo Tantalus drive core. Smaller, retrofitted for less emitting, keeping the stealth mode that was part of Normandy's charm. This, coupled with having two cores instead of one, without counting the smaller ones that were around the ship, allowed for an improved and easier to maintain Multicore shield based of the good old Cyclonic Barrier Technology, something that Tali had come up with when they were fighting the collectors.

The face of all the others engineers was priceless as not only they were seeing something thought impossible, but Tali also mocked them about that being her 'Brilliant idea'. She actually danced worse than he did while mocking them.

Couple that with the fusion plant, extended fuel cells and Antiproton Thrusters with both aft and forward exhausts, and you already have one hell of a ship. But humans didn't just help put this all together. Their contribution might seem subtle to most, but it was there. First they helped the Geth to create a system that could run the entire ship and would allow them to easily integrate the system in any part of the ship. Then they also improved the sensory equipment, designed the ship and… yes, they also made it possible to put the rest together… and got together the biggest amount of resources for the project.

Shepard smiled. The USSV (United Systems Space Vehicle) _Nautilus_, a reborn of an old human legend now made fierce in the galaxy. He missed the old Normandy, and felt bad that he could not go on this one, but was hoping to see what this one would be known for.

"Tell me you don't wish to be there."

"Keelah, John. Do you have to ask?"

John chuckled. "I guess not." He sighed. "Is this how Hackett felt when he saw me with the Normandy? Was this how Anderson felt? Damn I wish I could punch the lucky bastard that got this ship."

"And who is this lucky bastard?" asked Tali. "I know which quarians were picked for the project, but in the end who got the ship?"

The people selected for the ship were a skeletal crew at best, but still the best. Having members of all the races, yet still making a balance and effective crew. Plus a good portion of them were members of the N7 program from each race.

"That is the tough part." Said Shepard. "He was selected because of his clean record and impressive skills, take a look." He gave her a data pad. "He has one of the new biotic implants, and has shown an incredible amount of control over his biotics. Plus he is a tech prodigy with excellent skills in hacking, decrypting, engineering and electronics. Also he learned to wield all the weapons in the locker by the end of the 2nd month and has an unpredictable mind in terms of strategy, going from bold and frontal to discreet and tactical and never using the same strategy twice. He always changes it, even if a tiny bit. Completed the N7 course recently and all his teacher had to say was, and I quote, 'he is not human.'"

"Sounds too good to be truth." Said Tali frowning. "He has something on his medical chart, but I don't think I… wait didn't Archer…"

"Yes." Said Shepard, interrupting her. "He did. I see you are starting to see the problem. The kid is good, I met him. Reliable, follows the rules as they are, but he does have a few… behaviors and… well he… remember Liara when we first meet her?"

He could see Tali rolling her eyes. "Don't remind me, she didn't get a hint!"

"Well this guy makes her seem like a social butterfly." She turned to him incredulous. "I kid you not. So I called the team selected for this ship to give them a speech about their new commanding officer."

"I guess that is for the best… you are confident on his skills, right?"

John smiled. He remembered meeting the young man.

*****Flashback******

John was readying through reports at his desk. A few Salarian ships were seen near the borders, and that was no good. Those little creeps were up to something. He sighed to himself. When had he begun to think like that? Did his time with Mordin meant nothing? No, he had fond memories of the scientist, and Kirrahe. However, he had to admit that outside of that, his impression of Salarians wasn't the best.

"Admiral, it has passed exactly 5 minutes since the time you have scheduled our appointment."

Shepard looked up to see a young man in front of him. He had short dirty blond military hair, green eyes that seemed to look everywhere but at him, and a pale complexion. His body showed the results of training, wide shoulder blade, muscled arms and legs which were held against his chest as he sat in the chair in front of him. His stance, however, reflected nothing. No emotion even as he looked at everywhere but him, playing with his fingers.

Still, and while he was right about the time, something bothered him. "You must be Commander Delfim Traynor, right?"

"Sir yes sir." His voice was soft, barely a whisper, but still audible. Not the kind of answer Shepard was used to.

"Any relation with Samantha Traynor?" asked Shepard.

"… she is my mother."

"Oh?" asked a surprised commander. "Well I thought she was… well I… didn't she…like woman?"

Delfim turned his head to the side. "She is married to Selina Benning."

"So you were adopted by them?" asked Shepard, curious to what little old Samantha was up to.

"…I was born through artificial methods, but I am the biological son of Samantha Traynor and Selina Benning."*

"Ah!" Shepard now understood. Then he frowned. "How did you get in? I locked the door and my VI is maintaining the system."

"I entered the system and made it open the door." Answered the man in front of him.

Shepard frowned. "You mean you hacked it."

"Hacking would require that I brought down your firewalls and defense mechanisms. I access the system and changed the settings. Your system shall return to normal in 5 minutes."

Shepard sighed. "Well, you are here because we now know where to assign you." Delfim made no notion that he had heard. "You will be testing our newest ship, the…"

"USSV Nautilus, class frigate, fast travel, recon, stealth and space fight. Joint project of the 5 races and incorporates technology from each of them."

Shepard smiled. "I see you are well informed."

"I studied the schematics of the Nautilus." Said Delfim.

Shepard frowned again. "How did you access those?"

Delfim stayed quiet, head bowed. Shepard waited but when no answer came, he sighed. "Well, that is about it, you will fly with a skeletal crew, not a full contingency, and you have one task. Fly it to the Colony Horizon, investigate the system and return. That will be all, Commander."

Delfim rose from his chair quietly and turned away without a word. As he did, the door opened on its own and he left. Minutes later, Shepard heard his VI saying "Sir, somehow someone was able to shut down my control of the systems temporarily and took control of them."

"It's alright, I handled it."

"Very well sir."

*******Flashback end******

"That was it." Said Shepard. "That was my meeting with the new commander of the Nautilus."

"Do you think it could be a problem?" asked Tali.

"Maybe." Shepard sighed. "His teachers think he is ready, and it's not like he lacks qualifications, it's just that I don't know if the team can handle him. That is why I will be meeting them all."

"Sounds like a good idea." Said Tali. "But now is not the time to think about it. Come to bed before we both get a cold."

Shepard smirked. "Now that is something we don't want."

*****Next day******

Shepard looked at the team before him as he prepared to speak with them. He had read the files of all of them and knew they that he couldn't have asked for a better team, with some people of notice:

Amongst the humans, without counting the still missing Commander, was Richard Goldeneye. Richard was a short asian man with long dark hair and brown eyes filled with mischief. Dressed in blue casual clothes with the N7 symbol on the front of his left chest pocket. He was going to be the pilot of the Nautilus, someone that even Joker would approve. Capable and devilish on the controls of a ship, he was also selected for his experience with working with the commander before this assignment.

Among the Krogan, Garzog Rokhai was yellow skinned with a grey head plate, wearing a platinum looking armor with red lights and the N7 symbol on it. His grey eyes scanned around as he nursed his shotgun on his hands. The krogan was a weapon and armor specialist, so he would be in charge of the weapons and armor aboard the ship and Procurement. The Second member was Taren Bora, who wore her own brown armor, only with the helmet on. A female krogan who surprised everyone when she came out as a medical expert from the academy. She still was an N7 operative, which lead to the birth of the famous line 'If she isn't healing you, she is killing you.'

The Geth had gone with diversity as well: the first was a red Geth Prime by the name of Isaac. Isaac had 700 programs running on his platform, and all were created for battle. Not only that but he is a mobile communication beacon, being connected to whichever ship he is and thus he also managed communications. Next to him, a small Geth watched everyone with a critical eye. He had black painted armor and… was that a white skull painted on its side? And why was the plate around his eyes painted purple? Was he… a Gothic Geth? The answer is yes. His name is Machina, or so he called himself, and he would be connected completely to the ship, becoming the ship's AI.

The quarians had also two interesting members there: The first was a male dressed in a brown enviro-suit and a visor that was covered by a metallic plate and only allowed a small line in between as glass. His name was Torin'Paul pas Rannoch, Shuttle pilot, Navigation Expert and Vehicle maintenance. His eyes were focused on the other Quarian who was showing him something on the Omni-tool. The other was a female Quarian who wore a dark blue enviro-suit with a light blue visor. Her eyes darted between the Omni-tool and the other Quarian, talking excitingly. She was Tali's protégé, Rea'Koor pas Rannoch, and would be in charge of engineering and electronics aboard the ship.

Finally, the two Rachni looked exactly alike. Their names were Arak and Kara, and they would be in charge of maintaining the ship's weapons at peak condition. They had a red carapace, two tentacles sprouting from their back and their eyes were completely black.

Shepard smiled at them. This wasn't the complete crew, but they were the most important ones, elites within their own people, and even with their diminutive numbers he was sure they would be able to operate the ship. But first, they needed to know what they were working with.

"Everyone, thank you for coming on such short notice." Started Shepard. "I am here to fill you in on your new assignment. You are to be part of testing our newest prototype. You were all selected for your skills and attributes, and this will be just another test to both you and the ship, as you will be representing your own species." He let himself pause there and looked at them all, seeing how nervous they were. "I present to you… the USSV Nautilus."

The image of the ship appeared in their front, making the crew look at it in awe. "I have forwarded you the schematics of the ship to your Omni-tools so you can see it clearly: cutting edge technology and with you on board, a more than capable crew." Everybody looked at the schematics excited.

"The ship is divided into 5 floors: the first floor has the cockpit, CIC and communication hub. Second floor will be crew quarters, each adapted to the necessities of the crew with sterile rooms, and rooms with the right size to accommodate krogan and Rachni." The crew seemed to brighten at that. "There is also the CO office, the med-bay, and two corridors that lead to the first line of weaponry. This does not include the Thanix canyons nor the Tower of Light, which are held on floor 4. There will be a secondary elevator on each of the arms that take you to that floor."

The Rachni seemed glad that their work place was so close to their quarters as their tentacles wriggled. Shepard watched them for a few seconds, to him, Rachni were really weird, but he had to admit that it was kind of fun to see them excited.

"Floor 3 is Engine. It's were you will find the Tantalus dual core and the systems pertaining to the shields, there is also a few rooms for storage here and a few prisoner cells. Don't worry, there are also a bonkers here for either the engineers or the guards, though we urge you to use these only when needed. This is especially for the Quarian crew, these bonkers are not exactly in a sterilized room."

The Quarians barely heard him as she analyzed every part of that floor. Shepard shook his head at that.

"Floor 4 has the Thanix canyons, Tower of Light, a workout station here…" he pointed to the part at the front. "And a shooting range here" he then pointed to the part in the back.

"Floor 5 will be the Cargo and Vehicle Bay. We will provide with one Shuttle, the new Stark 98 and one Mako, the Blazer 12. The bay will also have two fighters, the Karamont-319. The armory will also be here, even if there are several weapon lockers across the ship in case of emergency. However, it is in the armory that the locker for the Heavy Weapons is going to be and only people with clearance can open it."

They seem to nod at this. Heavy Weapons mean dangerous weapons not fit in the hands of untrained personal. There had been enough incidents were the wrong person pulls the wrong trigger of the **very** wrong weapon.

"I have also forwarded you the chain of command on the ship so everyone knows their own job. Any questions?"

They seemed to go through the data silently. Suddenly, Rea put her hand up.

"Yes?"

"What about our CO?"

Shepard sighed. "Your CO is a special case and will require from you a bit of patience and consideration. His name is Commander Delfim Traynor."

Richard smiled at the name. Shepard felt a bit more relieved at that. If he was smiling then things might go better than he first assumed.

"Why is he a special case?" asked Rokhai.

"… Comander Delfim is an outstanding individual. Tech Specialist, Biotic Savant and Weapon Expert, he is the current most qualified N7 operative. He has a clean record, and commendations, which got him stationed at the Nautilus. But the reason why he is a special case is that he was diagnosed as having Autism Syndrome."

Everyone was quiet, most looking at him confused.

"So… he is sick?" asked Rokhai tentatively.

"No you dumbass Krogan, he ain't sick!" said Richard, annoyed. "Autism Syndrome ain't a disease, it's something he was born with."

"Well said." Commented Shepard. "Our specialists still don't know what makes a person autist, as the only diagnosis is through the observation of behavior. Basically, autists are people whose head works differently than ours, often seeing things in a way we don't, and behaving in ways not natural. I think Flight Lieutenant Richard can tell you more about your commander…"

"Yes sir." Said Richard as he stand up. "The commander is very quiet yet strict. He is not one to talk, preferring to only do so when he needs to. He knows a lot, really sometimes he sprouts something out of the blue and you can only look at him like 'wha?' However, don't let him deceive you, in battle he is ruthless and his plans always works, or at least so far they did.

"Thank you Lieutenant. The reason he is not here was so I could aboard this issue with you before your assignment. Anyone has a problem with your CO?"

Rea brought her hand up. When Shepard nodded, she asked "Well, I was wondering just what kind of knowledge our commander has since, by your words Flight Lieutenant, he knows a lot."

Richard shrugged. "Anything and everything, really. Once we were going on a recon mission to this toxic world and he suddenly sprouts that we should change the weapons to low power and to not let our weapons overheat because I don't know what component in the air was highly inflammable. A few minutes later, 3 of our own were burned alive because they ignored him. I just know that when he tells you something, it's because it is important."

There was something on the quarian's eyes told Richard that she was even more curious about her commanding officer, but shrugged at it. Nobody else spoke up.

"Very well. Report to the ship tomorrow GTM 8:00 on Docking Bay D45."

"YES SIR!"

He watched them all go, probably to pack, hoping to all that was holly that things would work out.

Knowing his luck, Delfim would give him just as much trouble as he gave Hacket…

**Author Notes:**

**Delfim: **Hey everyone, first chapter what do you guys think?

Also since I am alone here I will use this place for rants. Things that just cross my head and you may find interesting. Here goes the first one:

**Why pokemon instead of digimon? What makes one more popular than the other?**

Pokemon and Digimon are both huge names when we talk about children animes. We watched them when we were kids, and I bet that you could still grab a few episodes, sit back and enjoy them. But I was a bit saddened when I asked a few friends if they remembered digimon and they said "Nah, never really watched it." Or "What? No I don't." Or even. "Is that a spinoff of Pokemon?"

That one actually stung a bit.

Why? Why is pokemon so much more appreciated than digimon? I will analyze both franchises, compare them and give you my conclusions starting now.

**Pokemon**

**Stands for Pocket Monster.**

Pokemon was huge from the first moment it arrived. Before pokemon, most games were action/platform games with controls so tough to get used to that you would probably rage quit before completing the first area.

Pokemon Red and Green, the Japanese version at least, was the first thing that involved pokemon that was ever created and hit the gamers like a bomb with simple controls, an open wide exploration world, over 150 playable characters with completely customizable moves, the sprites weren't that bad considering the time and the game was fun! It gave you the idea you were evolving, becoming stronger as your party became mightier.

There are not a lot of games that can match the quality of Pokemon games for all this factors, and the games just keep evolving. By season three, you could have double battles and participate in contests, battle tents with different rules, and even the battle frontier. By the fifth generation, we can assume that anything is possible.

Plus the characters are awesome. Simple beginning designs that appeal to us, and grow more complex as the pokemon evolves makes the idea that you are growing within the game all that more realistic.

Then the fact that a lot of the game involved trading and fighting with your friends. I don't know about you guys, but I still remember me going to school, and when recess hit we would all get together with a few cables and start trading, fighting each other and what not. It was fun, and it was something never before done with games. It brought you and your friends together, while allowing you to grow even more.

A thing that attracted a lot of admiration were the legendary pokemon. Those that you would stay awake at night, throwing Ultra ball after Ultra ball until you capture it. Pokemon like Mewtwo, Rayquaza and Arceus just to name a few made the game even more addicting. You would spend a huge amount of time, trying to find this pokemon, some even creating rumors and myths about them, just so that you could then breathe in relief and say 'Fuck yah! I caught it!'. And yes, when I talked about creating myths, I was talking about the Mew behind the truck one.

Now there is over 650 pokemon, more than 5 generations of games, dozens of episodes in the anime, movies, cards, posters, dolls, pillows, music CDs, porn if you can believe it and a franchise that just won't die.

But I have focused enough on the games, let's focus on the anime and movies.

This is where some points have to be removed. First Ash Ketchum… hugh. I get it, in the beginning it was fun to have a main character who… had no fucking clue of what he was doing. But for CRYING OUT LOUD! How many leagues has he faced already? Many! How many has he won? NONE! How many times has he repeated the same fucking mistakes? WAY TOO MANY! How many legendaries has he found? Nearly all if not all. How many he befriended? Again, almost all if not all. How many has he captures? NOT A SINGLE ONE!

This only gets worse considering that his pokemon just don't evolve. Come on, guys. If you were a trainer running for the League would you take a freaking Bulbusuar with you? No you would take the OP Venasaur and whoop those assholes. Not Ash. In fact, he is the reason there are so many fans of Pikachu, but no fans of Raichu. Bitch please, Raichu is so much better…

And is it me, or does he never age, has no father, all the nurses are Joys and all the police officers are Jennies? Why is Brock always following him, yet the female character that is with him just keep changing, especially by someone always younger than the one before? And why is Jessy and James still after him? I can get it for a few episodes, but now it's just plain ridiculous. This led to the theory that Ash is actually dreaming and not living any of those adventures, but that is an idea for another time.

So yeah, this loses a lot of points on my book.

Enough about Pokemon let's jump tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo…

**Digimon**

**Stands for Digital Monster**

Now where do I begin with you… Perhaps at the idea.

Okay, so this time we are dealing with virtual life gaining sentience, body and being able to interact with us. My first contact with digimon was when I was a little kid, I had just watched pokemon and there was this little announcement on the TV "Next: Digimon 3" and I was like "Is that something related to pokemon?" So I sat back and watched.

Boy was I pleasantly surprised. I mean we had creatures that looked nothing like pokemon, but the connection to the real world, as opposed to the imaginary world that pokemon live on, made it… sort of more realistic. An idea far more easy to relate to.

Digimon shares some similarities with pokemon. In both, there is a connection between the human and the creature. In both, it involves a lot of fighting, one to prove you are the best, the other mostly for survival or to defend the others, reasons far better in my opinion. Finally, both creatures design starts simple and evolves as the creature evolves.

However, here is where the differences play in. First, digimons talk, giving one a deeper connection with his partner. Second, in most series you can only have one partner. Some would say that is bad, since in pokemon you can catch as many as you see, but this promotes the idea that you can just catch and throw away when not needed. Digimon goes deeper, that partner is **yours** and no one else's.

Digimon also beats in diversity. Every season not only does the concept change, but the digimon world does too. Instead of going for just new creatures, but everything changes. First season, one path digivolution. Second season, armor digivolution and DNA digivolution. Third season, tamer have a new role by using cards to augment their digimons then fusing with them to make them reach the ultimate level. Fourth season doesn't even have digimon partners, just kids evolving to digimon forms. Fifth season proves that digivolution is not linear when an Agumon evolved into GeoGreymon and not Greymon and so on.

This is strangely consistent, however, when we realize that the digital world is a world of data and data is in constant change and constantly being manipulated. So a world made of such must change, even its core rules have to.

One thing going for it is the 4 evolution stages representing 4 stages of life: Rookie = Child, excitable but sometimes insecure; Champion = Teenager, impetuous, brave and sometimes out of control; Ultimate = Adult, where his attitude either mellowed out with experience, or got worse but either way it shows more experience than the previous one; finally, Mega = Elder, where the wisdom one gained up until them makes the individual more wise and respected, after all Jijimon is in this class for some reason right?

Another thing is the evolutionary options. As it was explained before, one Agumon can evolve to Greymon or GeoGreymon. This happens with all digimons with some having up to 6 or 10 possible paths to choose from. This also makes digimon far more realistic, as it is like humans: when you are a kid, you don't know what you will turn up. You can become a cop, a fireman, a writer, a teacher, a politician. Anything and everything. This makes digimon more close to humans than pokemon, who goes for the animal cuteness thing.

Finally, while pokemon goes all about friendship, digimon goes for that, but also character development. In the pokemon series, Ash will always be dumb, Brock will always go after woman, and the female companion will always be either a yelling banshee or a meek girl, and the only one to change are the pokemon. In digimon, the trainers grow. The best example is Digimon tamers, where Takato started out as a meek scared little twat, Henry was a peace loving nerd and Rika was an antisocial bitch. By the end of the season, Takato was the fearless leader of the group, Henry still loved peace but understood that you can't always back down and fought just as hard as the others and Rika actually became sociable… well, more sociable than she was. There was a sense of growing up, time does have an effect on things, especially the human characters.

I could say a lot more about both but it is time for…

**Comparing!**

**I will compare them for what they are best known for: Games and Anime, as very little people have read the mangas related to both franchises… actually I haven't read either, there are so many!**

Pokemon wins in the game department: while digimon have a more branched out type of games, Pokemon always have that winning formula of 3 starters, 8 gyms, one entire region to explore and a battle style unmatched. Digimon doesn't have that because even within the same series of games the style changes. Like Digimon World 3, which is very similar to pokemon by the way, and Digimon World 4, a platform game of all things.

Digimon wins in the anime department: Pokemon is a child oriented anime, we get that, but the repeating gags and no character development leads to even kids looking at it and say "F*** this I'm out!" Digimon not only changes the characters, rules and style in each season, in the same season the characters change, slowly but surely becoming characters we grow fond of.

**Conclusion/Theory**

My first theory was that Pokemon came first and established itself as a dominating branch before digimon. This was proven false since Digimon first made an entrance in 1994 and Pokemon only in 1996.

So my theory is that it is a combination of two factors:

First of all, both franchises started off with both manga and games. Now I won't focus on the manga cause frantically we would be here all year! So instead the games. As I stated previously, Pokemon has a golden line in the form of a never changing basic structure that just works decades after it was first created. Digimon doesn't have that, or didn't have it in time.

Second, publicity. Remember when TV would scream at you about pokemon stuff? Yes you do, everybody does. A new Pokemon game, a new set of pokeon cards. Hell, they made a shit storm out of a Pikachu doll… motherfuckingpieceof…

My problem with Pikachu aside, Digimon hardly get any promotion. I knew about new games when I saw them at the game store.

The TV was always airing Pokemon episodes, whichever season. I even saw some of the old first gem videos going on TV just yesterday as my mother was flipping channels. Digimons rarely gets aired outside Japan anymore. You would have to go to the internet to watch the episodes.

So I believed those two factors make Pokemon more popular.

**Curiosity**

Both Pokemon and Digimon show proof of the Darwinian theory of Evolution, in different ways.

Pokemon does it with each new region. Let's focus on the flying pokemon here. In Kanto, a place that has lots of brow dirt roads, there is Pidgey, the brow bird, perfectly adapted to the environment. In the third season, we have Tailow, with its big wings that allow it to cross the big bodies of water in this region easier. And Pidof exists on a region filled with industrial and highly developed cities, so it appeals to people with a more cute nature in order to get some pity scraps.

Digimon does it with only one example on anime and plenty in games: Agumon in the first series evolved into Greymon, but by the fifth season it could evolve into Geogreymon, showing that a new path in evolution had formed. Not only that, but each digimon having more than one route of evolution suggests that, when without a partner, they would go with the one that would help them survive easier.

**This was My rambling for this chapter. Next chapter we will analyze the Mass Effect series and why is so many people pissed at the ending. **

**Peace Out. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 Test drive.**

It was the day of departure. Everyone was getting ready for going as they passed crates and crates of materials inside the Nautilus.

Rea'Koor was still looking at the ship, her chest swelling with pride. She got to work on that beauty! The newest prototype. Just imagining the Tantalus Dual Core was making her giddy.

However, she frowned when she remembered her debriefing with her mentor the day before. Was she really up to it?

******Day Before******

She had received a call to meet her in the Castelerona, a quaint little cafe that served dextro food at a very accessible price. She walked inside to see Tali, sitting in one of the tables, happily drinking a strange purple liquid through a straw. As soon as she saw her, Tali waved her over, which lead Zea to sit in front of her idol.

"Sorry to start drinking, but they serve the best Raeka Juice here." Said Tali as she gave a happy sight. "You youngsters take this for granted. Back in my days, we had to eat Turian meals and beverages. Those Bosh'tets don't know their way in a kitchen that is for sure."

Rea giggled at her mentor. She loved to hear the Admiral talk about her old days, because Tali seemed to get lost in the memories. She still couldn't imagine the Humans being part of the Council, but it was still interesting to hear about it.

"You want one?" asked Tali, showing her the glass.

"No thanks. I prefer Tilika anyway." Said Rea as she looked at the waiter. "One Tilika please."

"Yes ma'am." Answered the human waiter as he went to get her beverage.

"If I may ask, Admiral…"

"Please, it's Tali. I have been teaching you long enough for us to be on first name basis." Said Tali with a chuckle.

"Well, Tali, why did you want to meet with me?"

"Well… It's to explain to you what we expect from you on your… new assignment." Said Tali.

_We? _Zea was extremely confused by this statement. "Who is we?"

"The Admiralty Board of USA." Zea's eyes widened. "Your skills were just part of why you were assigned as both Chief Engineer and XO of the ship."

Rea did not like where this was going. Her skills were 'part' of the reason? "You mean my skills were not enough?"

"NO! That is not what I meant. Your skills as an engineer are well earned and gave you the position of Chief Engineer and XO. I am just saying that there was another reason to make you XO."

"Is this about the Captain? About his…" at this Rea felt really uncomfortable. "…condition?"

"Yes, it does have to do with that." Said Tali. "You see… well how should we put this, but the Commander has poor social skills."

"Yes, they debriefed us on that."

"What they didn't tell is that he went to several psychiatrists and only talked to one."

This made Zea tilt her head. Odd, perhaps, but that didn't explain a thing. "I don't see how this pertains…"

"She was a female Quarian." At this Rea stopped. "She was able to get him to talk with her and even shed some light into him." She then grabbed a data pad and opened a file. "He evaluates everything, even what people say, through a cold literal point of view, so he has quite a few problems with expressions. He is largely inexpressive, his tone not changing at all when he speaks and his face barely changing. He seemed extremely curious of us Quarians, specially our suits and how they works."

Rea heard attentively. The image she depicted was of a man with a cold stare and stance. A man that demanded answers about them. She started to shudder as the image got more and more realistic in her head, to the point she felt the imaginative blue eyes glare at her.

"Also he seems to behave differently depending on whether he is in or out of battle. The file says that outside of battle, Delfim is calm and collected. In the battle, he is fast, furious and inventive, his mind seems to race with thoughts while he is shooting something."

Now the image alternated between him going between standing and glaring to yelling and foaming off the mouth. She started to tremble a bit at the image.

"And to finish, he seems to, at moments, have difficulty in expressing himself, preferring to maintain himself quiet in order to avoid questions. This happens when he knows he broke the rules or when he is extremely embarrassed."

"_Keelah, what have I gotten myself into?"_ wondered Rea, barely listening to Tali anymore, the image now associating rule breaker and other dreadful things. "Do you really think I am ready for this?"

Tali smiled behind her visor. "I am sure. I know you will make us proud." Just then, the drink arrived. "We believe that both your skills and resume will make you easier for him to trust."

Zea frowned. "It sounds like you want him under control."

"No." stated Tali, her tone harsh. "We wish for him to have someone to help him. Someone that can show him how things work in a calm and patient way. Most of all, we wish for him to have someone that may actually be capable of understanding him."

"Then why me?" asked Zea. "I am no psychiatrist."

"That is the thing, we don't need you to be one per say, just to be… a friend… yes that would be the best term I believe."

Zea sighed and looked down, the images of her boss looming over her head. _What have I gotten myself into?_

*******Back to the present*******

The image hadn't left her after that. She kept seeing him every time she thought about it. She looked over the various crew members that were carrying the cargo in and her fellow N7 recruits.

Richard was talking to Torin. Both were laughing out loud as they admired the new vehicles. Next to them, Rokhai was checking every weapon container before taking it inside with a smirk. Bora, the other krogan, had already left the scene and was organizing the med-bay. The rachnis were crawling on the ship's hull and going over the weaponry. Machina had already gone inside too connect with the ship's systems while Isaac was helping bring the containers inside. She knew that whatever happened, she could trust the others.

She hoped that that applied to her new Captain…

*****With Delfim*****

He walked among the people who rushed all around him to get to wherever they were going. He calmly walked while humming an eerie song, one that made a lot of humans around him look at him either weirdly or nervous. It was a funeral march.

He kept humming as he walked observing his surroundings. _That window provides easy entry point for enemies. This is not good. Also the number of guards in each point is inefficient and badly distributed. I will have to talk with the Admiral about this. _He kept walking as people rushed to their destination, barely looking at him and some even bumping into him. He didn't react to it, keeping to his thoughts. The growl to his side made him look down even as people backed away, some gasping in fright.

"… Sekito, shhh." Barely a whisper, Delfim's voice reached Sekito, making the Varren beside him whine. It was a light brown varren with black stripes, his size reaching Delfim's waist. The varren's light brown eyes turned to his owner as he whined again. "I know you don't like the smell, but you needed a bath…" Sekito growled again. "… your hygiene is important, whether you are a war varren or not."

The Varren turned away from Delfim, not bothering to hide its anger. Delfim kept walking even as the people tried to avoid the unusual duo.

********With Rokai*******

"All right! This goes up to the storage area." Ordered Rokhai while looking at another crate. "Weapon mods?" He took a peek inside. "High caliber barrels? Nice. Okay this one goes for the armory and that will be the last of them."

"Yes sir!"

Rokhai actually laughed. If someone had told him a century ago that he would be cured of the genophage and working with humans, Quarian, Geth and even Rachni he would have head-butted that person to the ground. Now he could only laugh as the crew pulled the last crate inside the ship.

He then spotted someone that seemed out of place. He was standing still, looking at them working while his eyes showed that he was far away from there. He was a young man, dressed in a captain's uniform. He seemed to be out of pace just looking around, especially with the varren that was with him.

"Hey, Richard, isn't that our Captain." Asked Rokhai.

Richard came over and a smile formed on his face. "Captain Delfim!"

The Man seemed to snap to attention as he turned to Richard, who was now walking towards him. Then, with a voice that Rokai barely heard, came the man's answer. "Flight Lieutenant Richard."

"It's great to see you sir." Said Richard as he extended his hand. The man tentatively extended his own hand. As both shook hands, Richard asked "How are you?"

"… currently I have no physical or mental impairments." Answered Delfim.

"Good to hear." Answered Richard without batting an eyelash at his odd answer. "So… we are working on the best ship of the USA! Isn't that awesome?"

"… you should have said current… there may be a better ship in the future."

"I know, but currently it is the best! I mean look at it!" he said as he opened his arms towards the ship.

Delfim didn't speak or move from his position. However, a small smile appeared in his lips. As it did, Sekito made a gurgled sound. Richard turned to the Varren and smiled.

"Hey there Sekito." He then went and petted the Varren. He then chuckled as the smell of pet wash reached him. "Well I never heard of a clean Varren, but this guy fits the bill."

"… he needed a bath."

"Delfim, he is a Varren. Varrens don't take baths." Stated Richard.

Delfim's eyes turned serious. "Over 70% of Varrens die at 50 years old due to infections, most caused due to lack of hygiene. A proper cared Varren can last up to 85 years in comparison."

Richard blinked, blinked again, and then chuckled. "Well, I guess that is a reason to clean your Varren."

Delfim nodded with a smile, his expression softening again. Rokhai decided it was time to speak with his new CO.

"So you are our Captain, huh?" asked Rokhai as he came closer. "Garzog Rokhai, I am…"

"Gunnery Chief and Procurement Specialist, species Krogan, age 1070, participated in the Reaper War, Battle Master status." Continued Delfim. "I read your file."

Rokhai was a bit surprised, but nodded. "Yup, that's me." He then laughed. "Don't let my age fool you, I can still… how do the young ones say again? Oh yeah, kick some ass."

"Good, your leg strength is still in acceptable levels then." Stated Delfim in his calm manner.

While Rokhai stared dumbfounded at his captain, Richard laughed his ass off. "Ahahahahah oh man, I haven't heard that one in a while." As he finally calmed down, he said "Captain that is an expression, he means that he is still capable of fighting."

"Logical, since he can still kick ass, that means his leg strength is still enough to cause damage." Continued Delfim.

This only send Richard into a fit of laughter. "No Captain, as an expression he means he is still capable of fighting in more than just kicking. He means you can count on him in a battle."

Delfim's face seemed to finally show something: realization. His eyes widened a bit and his mouth opened slightly. Then just as fast, he casted his head down and stared at the ground, trying to hide his face.

"Oh come on, don't be embarrassed." Richard then put his arm around Delfim's shoulder. "I am sure that one day you won't have a problem with this stupid expressions!"

Delfim looked up and nodded, now back to his original expression, and Richard lifted his arm back. Rokhai finally understood what happened and chuckled. "Leg strength, I never really thought of it that way. Well, if you need me, the armory is…"

"Deck 5, Right next to the Vehicle bay." Finished Delfim. "I studied the plant of the ship."

From a little afar, Rea observed her captain. He was nothing like she imagined, he didn't seem cold or maniac, just… calm. And the way he talked was actually pretty soft, if not a bit emotionless. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad.

A growl was her only warning when suddenly something slammed into her.

"HAAAAA!" she yelled in fright as she hit the ground, hard. She looked up to see a varren so close to her she could smell his breath through the filters. She stood very still as the Varren stared at her. Suddenly, he started to lick her visor. "Hey hey HEY! Get off me!"

"… Sekito, shoo!" The varren jumped away from the quarian and ran back to his owner, who was now standing in front of her. He then went forward and offered a hand. She grasped it and got up.

Then he spoke. "… are you okay?"

Rea looked at him. He stared to the ground as he spoke, once again trying to hide his face. He seemed nervous, sorry even. She decided that no harm was done, so she said "Well, I was going to clean my visor anyway."

"…" Delfim raised his head, stared at her for a few seconds and then said "Varren spit is not an advisable product to clear your visor. You should still clean it with the proper product."

Rea chuckled. "It was a joke, sir."

"Oh." He once again looked down. He then looked up, back to his normal self. "You are Rea'Kor pav Rannoch. 23 years old, Tech expert and new chief Engineer of the Nautilus, making you pav Rannoch vas Nautilus. You were taught by Admiral Tali'Zorra pav Rannoch. N7 Engineer class who values the use of Sniper Riffles, Overload and 3 series of combat drone: Attack, defense and scouting. I look forward to work with you."

"Ha…" Rea stared awkwardly at her captain. "You have me at a disadvantage, sir. I mean, I heard about you but I don't know much about you… I mean I heard about you but…" Her rambling was cut short when Delfim pulled out a Datapad and gave it to her. "Hum… what is this?"

"… my file." Answered Delfim. "Now you will know about me."

"I see…" She accepted the datapad into her hands. Then she said "Well, I look forward to work with you sir."

Delfim nodded and turned to Sekito, who was now staring at him and waggling his tail. "Yes, she is competent. I believe we can rely on her, but we will have to have more data before reaffirming this."

Rea looked interested as her captain had a strange conversation with his pet. "The data on her file suggests that she still hasn't seen enough combat. I will observe her on missions and determine… The varren then barked. "… the argument 'she is attractive' is not valid as aesthetics does not contribute to battle prowess."

While Richard and Rokhai both snickered while she felt her cheeks flood with heat. She felt extremely embarrassed about Delfim's commentaries, right in front of her no less. Thankfully for her this moment was broken by Torin.

"I just made an inventory of the Vehicles. We have 2 fighters, one armed shuttle and a mako." Said Torin as he came with a datapad. "All top class! This is going to be…"

He stopped when he noticed not only the presence of a new person, but also the Varren who was growling at him.

"Sekito shh!" said Delfim as he approached Torin and extended his hand. Torin was unsure of what to do until he saw Rea making signs to him to give the datapad. As soon as he did, Delfim went over the data.

"… The Karamonts need new weaponry, the Gattlers can be improved. Also if we install a mass stabilizer to the Kodiak it would make flight 23% safer and more reliable. The Mako is a prototype developed by Barcle Industries as a ground and subterranean vehicle, plating similar to ships, has a digging drill on the front and one proton canyon, capable of carrying up to five people: a driver, one for weapons, one on the shield management and 2 passengers."

"Hum… are you our Captain, sir?"

Delfim nodded, still looking at the data. "Make sure to check the drill, they usually need to be sharpened before any task." Then he gave back the datapad and walked inside the ship, Sekito following behind him. As soon as he did, Torin looked at the others, confused out of his mind.

"Huh… am I only one confused about what happened?"

"No, I bet you aren't and you won't be the last one." Said Richard with a smile. "But you will understand him soon. He is not a tough guy to figure out… well, when he is not planning a tactic that is."

Inside the Nautilus, Delfim walked, ignoring most as they saluted him. Sekito looked around as he waggled his tail, a gesture commonly mistaken by happiness. In fact, it was a warning. It meant 'stay away' and was the first sign that a varren showed when worried.

"… this isn't the first time you have been on a ship." Commented Delfim. "You have nothing to worry about." The varren whined even as both gotten in the elevator. "… one ship crash does not mean all ships will crash." Delfim said this as he pressed the button for the 2nd deck. The varren growled. "… there is no need to growl, it will not make your point fairer."

As soon as the elevator reached the 2nd deck, Delfim walked into the infirmary where a female krogan was putting things in their place.

"This would be better in the Anti-histaminic, better not mix, I ain't treating just Krogans anymore." Spoke the Krogan, not knowing that her captain had heard her.

"… Indeed, a mistake could kill a Quarian pretty easily. I hope you are taking precautions."

Bora turned to see who was talking to her. "You must be our new Captain. Sorry if I was a bit distracted, but whoever stocked these did a bad job."

"… I understand. Safety comes first."

"Quite right." She finished putting the last one in place before she turned to him. "Allow me to introduce myself, sir, I am…"

"Taren Bora, medical expert with several degrees in Xenobiology and talented with a shotgun. Age 540 years, served in the Reaper War. I have read your file."

Bora nodded. "I won't ask how you got my file and had time to read it, you seem to have a reason to be here."

Delfim nodded. "Me and Sekito are here to submit ourselves to the obligatory checkups."

Bora rubbed her chin. "Well, I have the med bay ready. Let's take a look." She then raised an eyebrow to the Varren. "You are lucky my studies aboard the Varrens too, or else I would be at a loss."

Delfim nodded and stood still as Bora scanned him with her omni-tool. She gave a few grunts, taped a few buttons and passed it again. After a few seconds, she said "Alright, you are clean. I'll check the Varren, though. There were cases of Scale Itch in ships before and I would like to avoid it."

She proceeded to analyze Sekito while Delfim slowly walked within the med bay. There were eight beds, a few medical instruments and objects, and a few storage containers. There was also a door, which he knew led to one of the storage areas.

"The mutt is clean." Said Bora. "Cleaner than some of the members in this trip."

"… don't they take baths?"

Bora smirked. "Some things don't come out with just water and soap, captain."

Delfim looked confused but then left the Med-bay. He walked again to the elevator, humming his funeral march along the way and disturbing quite a few crewmembers.

"What do you think she meant?" asked Delfim as they finally reached the Elevator. Sekito whined while he pressed the button. "I see. I suppose I will have to ask Richard some other time." He finished his sentence as the doors of the Elevator closed.

Meanwhile, The New Chief Engineer was looking through everything to make sure everything was working correctly.

"The Cooling systems are okay, but I don't like how the second unit is responding, keep an eye on it!" She yelled at a quarian who was waiting for orders.

"Yes ma'am!" answered the quarian as he ran to the cooling unit.

"And someone please check the couplings. I swear one of them is malfunctioning."

"On it!" said a human as he crawled through the tubes.

She then narrowed her eyes and looked at the engine. Two balls rotated and sent pulses of light throughout the area. However, she saw a problem with them. "That stabilizer up there is coming loose, we need to get it fixed!"

A Rachni crawled up the walls and into engineering and towards the loose stabilizer, which looked like a mini-lightning rod stuck on the ceiling, red light coming of it's round head. The Rachni waited a few seconds until the light went out, then he started fixing it. Once done, he shrieked and started to crawl down. Rea took the signal and lighted up the stabilizer.

"Excellent. Now the engine is just as I want him." She heard the doors of the elevator nearby open and turned to see a Varren running towards her. She tensed, ready for him to jump only for him to start running around her.

"… Sekito, come here." Delfim's voice was heard as the Varren returned to his master. Delfim looked up at the dual core in thought. "… any problems here?"

"Just a few things out of place, sir." Answered Rea. "When they are putting the ship together, everything always seems to be in place, but there are always things that are not."

Delfim didn't answer her. Instead he walked to one of the terminals and started checking the status report.

"… energy output seems to have suffered a drawback recently…"

"It's the damn couplings! We are working on it, sir." Replied Rea, more than a bit bothered by the question.

"… The cooling station's 2nd unit readings are unusual…"

"Already sent someone to fix it." Rea was starting to get annoyed, and it was clear in her tone. Did he think she was an amateur? Anyone would have noticed those problems.

"…the…"

"Captain!" Rea then grabbed his shoulders and turned him to her, he didn't even seem fazed. "I have everything under control."

"… then why is the power code off?"

"I already wait WHAT?!" She rushed to the console and checked the numbers. Afterwards she blushed in embarrassment as she saw he was right. "I… I I… I'm on it, sir."

"… change 4th line to code 8899 7273 and 9th line to 0001 3725 for maximum efficiency." Delfim told her, his face not changing.

He stood there silently as he saw her change the numbers as he recommended. She then turned to him and said "Done sir, the code has been corrected, and the distribution of power should go smoothly now…" Delfim turned to leave when she said "Wait!"

Delfim stopped but didn't turn. This made her more nervous. He wasn't even turning to her, but she decided to do it. "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to be disrespectful, but all this things that are not working as they should and all I…" she looked at the ground. "Wow, first day and I am already behaving like a fool."

"… Why are you apologizing?"

She turned to him, incredulous. Only to find him staring at her "You… are not mad?"

"… no, mad would indicate that I had entered a state of madness which indicates that I lack sense." Said Delfim. "However, my brain is at optimal capacity, I am not lacking anything at this point, so I am not mad."

"Hum… I meant… well… aren't you angry?"

"… about what?"

"Well I was… I mean I… I was rude to you sir." She said, finally gaining the courage to speak. "As a member of the military, I know that I am supposed to keep my calm, but… I didn't."

"… your stress levels are rising." Delfim then nodded to himself. "Do you feel embarrassed about your behavior?"

"… yes…"

"Then I have no need to reprimand you about it." Said Delfim. "You are already doing it to yourself."

With that, he turned away and left, humming the same tune as before. She sighed as she palmed her visor. "Way to go girl, first day and you already screw up." She went to the computer and started checking up everything. "Way to go indeed."

Delfim kept walking to the elevator until he noticed that he missed someone. "… Sekito?" He turned back and looked around. "Sekito?" he called out, his voice not raising in volume at all.

"I can't believe I didn't noticed that! A full line of code that needed to be rewritten, and I did not notice it! What kind of tech expert am I if I make this stupid mistakes?"

A bark was her only answer, which made her eyes wide as she turned to see the Varren staring at her. "Hum… aren't you supposed to be with…"

"Sekito." Delfim called as he entered. "Don't disturb her."

Sekito whined as he went to his master.

"Oh no, it's not trouble." Said Zea with a chuckle. "How did you get a Varren of all things to follow you?"

"…" Delfim stared at her, as if lost in thought. "… Found him in Tsuchanka."

"Ha-ha."

"… N7 was promoting survival training. We were dropped on different points of Tsuchanka and told to survive."

Rea flinched. Quarian N7 program focused on fast strikes and finish the objective quickly, not survival. And during her pilgrimage, she passed enough time on Tsuchanka to know that any training there was survival training.

"… My group was made of four people… a soldier, an adept and an engineer. We were trying to find a place to rest for the night. We found a cave… the problem was… it wasn't empty."

"Ha!" Rea looked at the Varren. "I suppose this little fella was there."

Delfim nodded. "He tried to attack us, the soldier shot him." At this, Sekito growled. "I took care of him."

"You took care of him?" asked Rea surprised. "Why would you?"

"… he did nothing wrong." Said Delfim. "He was protecting his home. We were invading. He has followed me since then."

Rea smiled behind the visor as she looked at the varren. Then she frowned as she reflected on his tale. "Why did you call the guy soldier? Didn't he give you his name?"

"… he was not worth mentioning." Said Delfim. "Soldier died 3 months ago during a pirate raid. There is no point in mentioning his name."

"Hugh…" Rea looked uncomfortable at this. "But wasn't he your friend."

"… no, we had a very serious divergence of opinion."

"What was that?"

"… he believed that my place was not in N7, but on a Psychiatric Asylum. I kept telling him that I had no wish to work as security of such place and preferred the military life... For some reason, he thought I was mocking him."

"Ha!" Rea immediately understood what the other guy wanted to say, but refused to voice it. Like her captain had just said, the man was dead, no point in speaking of that anymore. "Well, I better get back to work. Good day, sir."

Delfim nodded and left Engineering, this time with Sekito following him. He reached the elevator and pressed down. As it reached the Vehicle Bay, he walked up to Torin, who was working on one of the fighters.

"And then I connect this to this and… DONE!" He then stepped back, his arms wide. "The Captain knows his stuff, they are now true killing machines!"

"… I studied all kind of vehicles, it is in my file." Torin turned around to see the man he was talking about. "You shouldn't be so surprised."

"OH, sorry sir, I was just… implementing your suggestions sir."

Delfim nodded. He then extended his hand. This time, Torin did not hesitate to give him the datapad. Delfim looked through it and then nodded, giving it back. Torin smiled. "They are great, aren't they?"

"…?" Delfim seemed confused. "Why would you define them great?"

"Why wouldn't I, sir?" asked Torin. "These are the latest models, cutting edge technology for quick strikes and disruptive tactics. Speed and power compacted in this small form."

"The Nautilus has much more fire power."

"Yeah but the Nautilus is a frigate! We are comparing these to other fighters, sir."

"I see… yes, on those parameters, you could consider them… great."

Torin seemed to grin behind the visor. "I told you! Now I am still checking on them, but I'll make sure to keep you posted if something comes along. Is there anything you want to ask?"

"… no. Carry on."

"Aye aye, sir!"

Delfim walked up to the armory. As he walked in, he saw Rokhai use a face visor while he used a torch to weld two pieces of armor. He stopped when he saw the captain.

"Well well well, coming to meet me, Captain?" asked Rokhai as he walked over to the Captain.

"… those two pieces are from different sets."

"You got good eyes, Captain." He then showed the armor. "These two belong to different sets, but together they make for a better armor. This is part of what I do. I find the best pieces of each armor and salvage them. The others, I guard them in sets, they could still be useful."

"…" Delfim stared at the pieces, concentrated. Then he turned and said "Are you going to build a lightweight Weapon enhancing armor?"

"Damn, and here I thought I would have to explain it to you. Yeah, that is my objective." He then went to another set of armor and took the greaves. "Don't mind me, though. I ain't using any of the crew's armor, just some that I get here and there."

"Good, we need those armors."

"Yeah but we also need good armors. Don't get me wrong, but standard armor is the biggest pile of Pijack shit I have ever seen."

"… this armor is made of metal alloys, plastic polymers, and high tech. In no way, shape or form is Pijack shit even a part of it."

The Krogan stared at him for a while before sighing. "Captain, it was an expression, it means they are not of good quality!"

"Oh!" Delfim seemed surprised by this, then looked down embarrassed.

Rokhai smirked at this. "Well, nothing to it. Anyway, is there anything I HEY!" Rokhai then ran as he saw Sekito pissing on his bench. "You fucking little pikack!" yelled Rokhai as he grabbed a gun and started shooting at the varren, who started to run away.

Delfim looked as Rokhai rushed after his varren, muttering "That is not a pijack, it's a Varren…" As both left his sights, the captain spoke, still quietly. "… please don't hurt him…"

…

Richard laughed to himself as he checked the cockpit. The white walls were filled with lights, predominantly orange, especially from 5 different consoles: one in each side of the room and the 3 others at the front, where the pilot and co-pilots sat. "Who would have thought…" he said to himself. "…that one day I would stand in such a ship." He grinned as he jumped to his chair. "Machina, you there?"

"_Affirmative."_

"Where is Isaac? I didn't see that guy around."

"_Isaac is connecting with the ship to allow motorization of communication. He shouldn't be disturbed. And he is not a guy, he is a geth."_

"Okay, okay, I get it. And the Captain?"

"_Making rounds, sir. It is sad that the Captain still hasn't deigned us of interest."_

Richard shrugged. "Probably busy. Where is he now?"

"_In deck 5, attempting to stop Rokhai from killing a varren."_

Richard laughed. "Some things never change."

**Chapter end!**

Hey guys, time for Food for thoughts.

Today's topic is not as elaborate as our first topic, but still good enough, I believe. On Today's food for thoughts, we discuss old franchises you probably forgot about, but could have been successful because they are so good.

**Food for Thoughts.**

**Memoires of the Forgotten…**

Hey everyone, I was surfing around the internet and sometimes watching television in order to find good cartoons or anime, when I got a good look at an old series that even after all this time was still excellent, better than today's entertainment.

As such, I compiled a small list of these forgotten jewels and will talk about them here. Enjoy.

We start off with **Monster Rancher, **good I loved that anime. It was one of those anime based of a videogame and had three seasons. It was about this world filled with monsters in which you could find disks, go to a temple, run this disks and they would transform into monsters that you could travel with. The anime was childish, but the characters were loveable, the color scheme was gorgeous and the adventures were much better than what they come up with, say, Jake and the Pirates of Netherland… why Peter Pan, why?

Monster Rancher has two games for Gameboy advance which are challenging but entertaining, and that is about as much as I know from the series.

The last episode of this anime was launched in 2002, and it is unlikely that we will ever hear of this franchise again…

Now we turn to the original **My Little Pony. **No, not the friendship is magic. While this one will also make you gag on rainbows and sunshine, this one was much different, in the way that you never heard of 18 year old kids watching it to jerk off… don't look at me like that, the majority of "MLP Friendship is magic" fans are 18 and 19 year old males, this is a fact.

This one was a true kid's series and it did a good job at it, giving them things that kids back then liked: adventures, colorful backgrounds and ponies! Who didn't like ponies? This made a very popular anime.

However, as time passed, Friendship is Magic took over and now, very few remember that childhood memory that was the original My Little Pony. That and the original show wasn't that popular, being more of a girl's show. Still worth reminding.

Okay this one is classic and if you forgot about him, you will now regret it. It's called **Jonny Bravo. **Jonny represents the stereotypical perfect man of his time: Blond, muscled and with the style of Elvis Presley. The problem was he was dumb as a door, weak as a leaf and not lucky with woman. This made for hilarious moments were he tried to look hot, and failed spectacularly. Forget the current Jonny Test, Jonny Bravo is the number one Jonny, no doubt.

How about **Zoids? **Zoids was this old anime where people fought each other on giant mechanical animal like robots which was really cool: power rangers without the ground fight. These things were awesome, the coloring was okay, and the moments of humor were well done. I approve.

How about little old **detective Conan **or as many know as **Case Closed. **This anime focus on a detective who was forced to become a kid against his will. Now living with his girlfriend, who doesn't have a clue about his true identity, he solves crimes by using his useless uncle to mask the fact that he is the one that does it, cause who would believe a kid. It is a very good anime check it out.

**Elemental Gelade **is perhaps my favorite. Very short anime, a bit rushed at the end, but immensely awesome about a world where there are two types of people: the normal guys, and the Edel Raids, who look like girls except they have this gems on their heads which allow them to turn into weapons and be wielded by normal people. I really mean it check out this anime.

This one I have mixed feelings about, since a new season of it came out recently. It's called **Saint Seya**. Yeah, many would say it is a faggots anime, due to the fact that the poses they stuck are… pretty suggestive. But the anime is still entertaining and come on, its new season is way more suggestive in that remark. It's about Athena, who exists in the form of a woman here on Earth. To protect her, there are a group of knights: Bronze Knights, where our main heroes start; Silver knights and Gold Knights. There are 12 gold knights and they represent the 12 … I don't know the English word, signs? Like Sagitarium, Cancer, the Virgin and so on.

My final one is **Shaman King, **and it's about people who could summon spirits to help them fight. It was really fun and full of moments, both humorous and action packed. I didn't finish watching this anime completely, so don't ask me more about it, go find it yourselves.

That's the hidden pearls, if you think there are some I forgot, leave it in the reviews. Peace out!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, this is Delfim the Black Kitsune and I would like to address a few points before we continue on with the fanfiction.

**Number 1,** there will be no more food for thoughts.

Sorry, but I had complaints. Instead I will try to make Codex entries to give some context to things in my fanfiction.

**Number 2**, when is my fanfiction happening.

I made it on purpose to not state when it happens and only that Sheppard and Tali and other characters would still be alive. This is because it still allows a bit of a window and most people would complain no matter what timeline I would have set.

**Number 3,** how people move without the Mass Relays.

Explained in this chapter…

**Number 4,** I am missing facts or overlooking facts.

See I had this review recently that told me that I was overlooking facts and just forcing my story down people's throats.

First, this is fanfiction. If this is not to your liking, there is always the return button and leave the fanfiction you are readying now, I am not forcing you to anything.

Second, I may not be the most technical of guys but I am trying to stick as close to canon as possible with a few changes. I mean… that is what most fanfiction is right? Close but not quite the same?

Third, I apologize if anyone is offended by anything I write or I don't write cause that can be just as bad if not worse.

**Number 5,** is there going to be a new species?

I don't know… I was hoping to have at least one… raloi I think that is what they are called, but if not I wanted to have a new species in this.

However I have no idea what to do. For all that fact that Mass effect has so many human similar aliens, it is still pretty diverse in it's characters so… what to add to it? Leave your ideas on the reviews for all will be considered.

**Number 6,** who is the enemy.

Come on guys you really think I am going to come out and just say it?

Okay, I am going to say that there isn't just one enemy, that they are all adaptable and evolve as the story go. There might be a return of Cerberus as bad guys if enough people suggest it in the reviews though.

**Number 7,** the captain.

Why did I made the captain autist and have such a weird personality? I work with APPDA, which is a Portuguese association dedicated to autist people. I am deeply connected with it because my mother is the director of Viseu's branch and my brother is autist.

With this in mind, I have fond memories of being with this people, and am saddened when people only consider the bad examples of autists, those who can't talk, or behave in erratic and violent manners. But if you want great examples of autist people, Bill Gates and Daniel Tammet. I rest my case.

So I wanted to show a case of autism based on a collection of people I have met. I gave him the name Delfim just because well… there aren't enough Delfims in the world.

**Number 8** Transportation.

How to move from galaxy to galaxy without relays? Well, After hearing the talks of Dr. Michio Kaku, I have a an idea based on his theory. It involves something called Negative Matter. I shit you not. This negative matter, when put into Einstein's equation, turns time and space into, as he explained, "a giant pretzel", making it possible to warp one object through time and space, in other words, teleportation.

**Number 9,** the Harem.

Someone gave a few ideas for members of the Harem. So here is my response.

The female turian has already been selected. She has her unique story but you won't be disappointed.

I don't know how to go with a female batarian. I know they are rare and having one would be great, but I don't like batarians and I don't know how to go around to make one nor how she would stumble into this.

As for the "female" geth… honestly I don't know. Maybe. I will have to give it some thought before giving some definitive answer.

**Number 10** the Final Flash

Also called the Tower of Light, I didn't make that obvious. Some complained about the uselessness of this weapon and in most situations it is, but this is to be used in extreme circumstances against opponents who would otherwise overpower the ship. I will go into detail on the codex at the end of the chapter.

**Number 11** diferent word types:

"Hello"- most people talking.

"_Greetings." – Geth talking._

"Greetings!" – rachni speaking.

"**Do you copy?" – comn speaking.**

… Yeah, I think that is everything.

So, onward.

**Chapter 3 Horizon **

After Rhokai finally stopped pursuing Sekito, Delfim moved back to the elevator to move onto another area of the ship: the weapons' systems, 4th deck. Sekito whined at his side.

"… it was your fault for instigating the conflict." To this, Sekito barked in protest. "Marking your territory is not a viable excuse as this is a war ship, not our home." Another bark made Delfim frown. "We may have been assigned to this ship, but this does not make it our territory, as territory is applied to ground locations."

He entered the elevator and pressed the button for the 4th deck. Sekito barked loudly at his side.

"… by your logic, the admiralty board should each be taking a piss in this ship for this ship belongs to USA." The menacing growl did not seem to deter the captain. "… biting them in the leg if they come to steal your territory is highly illogical, unprofessional and unreasonable. Please refrain from doing so. Besides, you have yet to add to your argument more than we have to live here or we were appointed to this ship."

The mutt seemed to accept defeat, as he let his face drop.

As Delfim stepped out of the elevator, he looked around to see the different terminals, the layouts of the guns with geths connected to most… and the two rachni going around the walls and ceiling, checking everything.

One of them saw the captain and crawled down to meet him. As he came to a stop in his front, tentacles wriggling, a sort of melodious voice made it's way to Delfim's ears.

"Come here to check? System and hardware all green."

Translating Rachni wasn't easy, as even with the queen providing help through… well cadavers, decoding their song based speech into something comprehensible by the rest of the USA had been a bit of an undertaking. Nonetheless, it paid off as now it was possible to understand their voices through the translators.

A funny thing is that the translators would always give their translations a melodious tone, despite how short they tended to be. This was because as they communicated through singing, the translator did not recognize that that was speech, but as what it was, a song.

Delfim looked around, as if to check. Then walked into one of the systems and started to read through the algorithms. "Shredder turret r3 and l2 need to be recalibrated. Thanix canon is operational, but a 3rd scan might be required. The Tower of Light seems to be within parameters, but make sure to regularly check on it. We are testing this new weapon."

"Understood, captain." The rachni quickly climbed up and started making some clicking noises and sounds to his partner, who moved through a channel in the ceiling towards the weapons on the left side who also needed maintenance.

The remaining rachni went and interacted briefly between the geths attached to the weapons, who turned on response and then returned to their operations though the captain noticed the difference in the algorithms.

As Delfim turned, the same rachni dropped on his front. "The changes applied, systems optimized. Anything else sir?"

"… that will be all. Come Sekito." Delfim turned to go but then stopped. "… Sekito?"

Suddenly, there was a loud whine and Sekito came running in fear. Delfim looked at where he came from and saw one of the geth with what seemed like a flamethrower in one of his arms.

At seeing the attention turned on him, the geth responded _"He was about to mark his territory. There are regulations against that. I did not cause him harm."_

Delfim stayed quiet before turning around and leaving, Sekito falling behind with his tail between his legs, whining all the while. He kept whining even as the commander entered the elevator and pressed the button for Deck 1.

"… you had been warned." This statement elicited a pitiful groan. "He did not hit you, you show no form of physical damage. That could be reduced to a very light form of psychological trauma which will pass." Another groan came from the 'victim'. "… we will not visit Bora for pains you have only yourself to blame."

Coming around to the first deck, Delfim saw the CIC. It was built in an oval shape, with a table in the middle occupying most of the room where a small platform could be seen leading above it, directly above a star map which was indicating Sol System. Very few people where here, the ship running on a skeletal crew, however there where at least 3 people around the table checking data on the computers and datapads. Next to the platform, waiting immobile, stood Isaac, who seemed to be producing frizzling sounds for no reason. Until he saw the captain, at which he fully turned to him.

"_Delfim-captain, this unit is ready and fully operational. We have connection with the admiralty board if you would like to have a word with them."_

Delfim stared at him and then said "One word would not be enough to express a competent report or message. I hope your transmissions can handle more than that."

Isaac seemed to stare at the captain, even as his optics turned. _"Reassessing. What I was trying to convey is that I can open a comn link with the Admiralty Board if you want."_

"… not now. We have our objective. Admiral Shepard ordered us to make for Horizon. Only then will I contact for further instructions."

"_Acknowledge. This platform will stay here to provide assistance."_ With that Isaac stood once again looking at nothing in particular, frizzling sounds coming from him again.

Delfim moved past the geth, ignoring those working in the table as he reached the cockpit. Once there, he saw Richard sitting on a chair in front of the system which allowed him to pilot the ship, looking at everything with barely kept anticipation. The windows were wide, going even behind the flight lieutenant and exposing the surroundings. There were two more seats, one in each side of Richard, though only the one on his left side was occupied by a black painted geth.

"… is everything ready?"

Richard turned with a smile. "Captain, where have you been? Why do you always leave me for last?"

"… I did not know that being left for last in a review was going to leave you distressed. Had I known, I would have started with the cockpit."

Richard laughed. "The systems here are green, but better confirm with Machina…"

"_The ship is as ready as it can be in these situations, captain."_ Stated Machina, turning towards the captain as he spoke.

"You don't need to be so down, Machina." admonished Richard. "The ship is in better condition than any other ship on this port!"

"_Yes, but that does not mean it couldn't be better."_ Stated Machina.

Delfim nodded. "This is the most advanced ship of the moment, but at any moment they could develop something new and the next ships will be in better condition than this one. Thus Machina is correct, it is the best that it can be at this point."

Machina seemed to focus on the captain. Then stated _"Delfim-captain, you have an interesting way to observe things, similar to the geth."_

"… no, my optics are organic and processed through and equally organic nervous system. The similarity is the outcome of our thoughts, not on how we both observe them."

Machina turned away in thought. Meanwhile, Richard coughed and said "Well, now that that is over with, there is something you have yet to do…"

"?" Delfim looked at him, confused, tilting his head to the side.

"You got to give a speech! Motivate the crew! For most people here it's the first time they are working with you, captain, so they want to hear you."

"… if they want to hear me, why not come to me personally?"

"Because that would take too much time and leave the posts unattended. Come on, you know this already."

Delfim pondered and nodded. "Put me through."

Richard clicked a few buttons and nodded at Delfim. He took a breath, prepping himself for the speech:

"This is your captain speaking." The monotonous voice betraying no emotion. "We were selected to test the USSV Nautilus in the Iera System. We will be testing maneuverability, battle simulations and system's checks. If all goes well, we should be given a full crew and continue to serve here. If not they will retrofit the ship as necessary."

"As such I expect the best out of all personal in order to give an accurate demonstration of the ship's limits. The main objective will be to test the Tower of Light, or Final Flash. However, the entire ship and its crew are under scrutiny."

"One more thing. Our medical expert has told me that some members might not be clean. Please inform yourself of proper hygiene methods or proceed to the med bay for additional decontamination if necessary. That will be all."

This speech was greeted in different ways throughout the ship.

Bora laughed her ass of in the med bay.

The geth onboard seemed puzzled and looking inquisitively at the organics around them, who seemed just as confused.

Rhokai was looking at the comn like he didn't believe he heard it right.

Rea was thoroughly confused until a blushing member of the engineering ran to the elevator, sputtering about going to the med bay.

With that, Richard closed the comn and shook his head. "What was that all about?"

"_I would like to know as well. Are members in our team not taking proper hygiene protocols?"_

"… Bora stated that Sekito was cleaner than some members of this ship. When I asked if they didn't take baths, she stated that some things don't come out with just water and soap."

While Machina's optic swirled in confusion, Richard was holding in the laughter. Finally he took pity on the clueless and clarified. "Captain, she meant that some members in our ship may have STD's or other diseases. Nothing of a big risk, or else they would be reported, but enough that she would make the comment."

"…oh."

"_Isn't an STD a sexual transmitted disease? Isn't it of concern?"_

"Depends on the STD, if they are taking the necessary medication and such." Said Richard. "Alright, I will ask Ground Control for permission to take off."

"…good. Prepare Hyper Jump once we are at safety distance from Earth."

"Okay sir. Ground Control this is USSV Nautilus…"

Delfim left while Richard spoke with ground control. He headed to a wall in the back of the CIC, near the elevator, where a row of seats were stationed, each with their own safety harness for people and any extras. He then fastened a safety harness on Sekito to tie him to the chair while he himself would wear the safety harness that came with the chair itself.

"Attention all personal. We are beginning to take off. Performing Hyper Jump in T minus 5 minutes."

Immediately, the people around the ship started heading to the same chairs and fastening themselves in, even the geths. Hyper Hump was something prompted by the discovery of negative matter and how to manipulate it. It was a substitute of the Mass relays of old, allowing for jumps from one point of the galaxy to another. The problem was that the trip was not as smooth as the relays were, so precautions had to be taken.

"We are entering Hyper Jump in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1."

Immediately the entire ship rocked as if it was being tackled on every side, jolting the crew quite a bit. Sekito whined at the turbulence even as he barely kept himself on his chair.

"… it will all be over soon." Soothed Delfim, not even looking at his distressed companion. "You have been through this before, you know you are going to be fine."

This did not seemed to settle well with the war varren, who kept whining in fear.

But like Delfim said, it was over quickly. The ship stopped trembling and everything was quiet.

"… Ladies and gentleman, this is Flight Lieutenant Richard speaking, we have come off Hyper Jump. Drift under 1700K, time displacement 20 minutes. You may resume your stations people."

Delfim took the harness of Sekito, who began bouncing and rolling in thr ground in excitement.

"… it wasn't that bad." Admonished Delfim.

In response, Sekito lay down, belly up, tongue hanging and just panting. Delfim stared at him but said nothing of the varren's behavior.

"_Captain, we have reestablished connections with Earth. Admiral Shepard wants to spick with you on Vid Comn." _Stated Isaac.

Delfim nodded and proceeded through a door on the left. He walked right into a room which had two circular pads on the ground, separated by a platform with a keybord with basic functions. Delfim stepped up into one of them and pressed one of the buttons.

The holographic image of Admiral Shepard materialized in the pad in front of him, turned to him as if in waiting. "**Captain Delfim**, **have you reached Horizon?"**

"… yes, with a drift time of 20 minutes sir."

"***Whistle* It used to take us 5 hours when we first developed Hyper Jump." **Shepard then nodded. **"Before you head towards the coordinates for the ship tests, I would like you to check on something."**

"… shouldn't the tests come first?" asked Delfim.

"**They would, but Horizon has informed us of strange sightings. Diferent ships near the system, all of different types, none from USA."**

"That doesn't seem like a job for a ship on a running on a skeletal crew, admiral."

"**And it isn't, but we need you to scout ahead, figure out who they are, what they want and so on. It might be just a few merchant ships from the traverse, but it is too close to Horizon to conflict. Plus it is a sign of good faith for the people of Horizon if we show up to check on their enemies."**

Due to the collector incident, Horizon had all but cut ties with the Alliance. Now the bridges were being slowly healed, but things were still tense.

"… alright, can you send me the coordinates?"

"**Already did. Check with Isaac. If you face hostiles, call for backup."**

"Understood Admiral. Delfim out." As the image of the Admiral disappeared, Delfim activated the ship's comns. "All personal, the ship tests have been put on hold. We are to investigate the appearance of strange ships near this system. We have our coordinates."

He then proceeded to move to the CIC and raised to the platform above the star map. "Isaac, transmit the coordinates to Richard."

"_Acknowledged."_

"Richard, ETA?"

From the console in front of him, the voice of Richard came with the answer: "Five minutes if we go FTL sir."

"Good. Is the ship ready?"

"This is Rea, all systems are operational."

"This is Arak. Weapons ready!"

"This is Torin, fighters ready sir, but I am the only pilot available for them."

"_Everyone is in position, Delfim-captain." _Isaac said as he turned to him.

Delfim nodded. "Anything on the scans?"

"_Nothing so far."_

Delfim remained quiet, looking around as people frantically worked on their consoles. At one point, one of them looked alarmed.

"Sir! We are picking something, cruiser size!" yelled the marine.

Delfim's eyes furrowed. "Can you identify the ship?"

"Not yet sir, should we get closer?"

"… yes, but remain at a comfortable distance." Said Delfim. "We are here to investigate them. It might be a cargo ship."

"With all due respect, but I don't think there are any trading roads here sir." Spoke the marine.

"…" Delfim seemed to ponder a bit as he looked at the console in front of him. "We need to verify before we make any conclusion."

No one was reassured by that, but returned to their tasks. Soon, they had a visual of the ship in question, and it was not a pretty sight. It seemed like it was put together with different parts of other ships patched together with duct tape or something similar.

"Damn, that is one ugly ship." Said Richard.

"… aesthetic beauty aside, that ship has weaponry consistent with a cruiser, which means that it could be a problem if they detect us." Stated Delfim. "Remain at a safe distance for now."

"Yeah I don't know sir, it looks pretty old and banged up. It hardly looks like it could take a shot." Said Richard.

"… it's appearance can be deceiving."

"CAPTAIN! Other ships are appearing in the radar. At least 3 other, frigate size!" yelled one of the crew members. "We can't identify them, but they are in route to meet with the cruiser."

"Have they spotted us yet?" asked Delfim.

"No sir, at least they have made no notion towards us. They seem to be converging towards somewhere…"

"They might just be waiting until they are all together before turning to deal with us sir." Said another marine.

"_Should I establish connections with them?" _asked Isaac.

"…" Delfim seemed to stare at the screen as the three dots came closer and closer. "ATTENTION ALL PERSONAL, BATTLE POSITIONS AND WEAPONS ARMED, WE ARE DEALING WITH HOSTILES!"

The tone in which this was spoken scared every one. This wasn't the soft, expressionless voice of their commander, this was a hard and rough voice that was not going to accept any argument. The voice of Richard yelling "Yes Captain." Brought everyone back to action.

"Sir, why are we preparing to battle? The unknowns have yet to attack us or even know of our position."

"Kirklein strategy." Answered Delfim, still in the rough voice even as his face held a frown of concentration. "One big decoy and a surprise attack. Keep the scanners up, we will be attacked from the back in T-5 minutes."

"But sir, Kirklein strategy is a salerian strategy." Said the last crewmember.

"Yes it is, and we are the target of it." Said Delfim. "This is a military operation, or at least there is someone with military expertise in that cruiser."

"_What makes you think that, captain?" _

"The point at which they will meet. The Frigates are not aiming at where the cruiser is, but where it is going to be. That and the cruiser is increasing speed, proper procedure for a turn around. Finally, the base of the cruiser is definitely salerian, despite the many patches made to it."

Everyone was stunned, but soon enough, the radar picked a red dot… coming from behind.

"Richard, fly down and away from the targeted ship, we need to avoid him before he is in range of fire."

"Roger that Captain."

"Isaac, contact Admiral Shepard, ships hostile and have military training. We are caught in the Kirklein strategy. Request backup."

"_Acknowledged."_

Delfim pressed a button and yelled "Engineering! Divert the energy from the stealth drive to the thrusters. We will need the speed advantage to get them."

Rea was looking at the comn, not recognicing the voice at first but went to comply. "On it! Divert the energy!"

"Attention Deck 4, weapons ready on my signal!"

"We ready!"

The Nautilus funneled down even as the new ship was coming closer to fire. At the same time, the three frigates had come into view and after each turned around the cruiser to turn to the newcomer, the four frigates gave pursuit.

"They are preparing weapons sir, the sensors indicate they are energy based."

"Richard, energy based weapons shoot in a straight path. Keep out of the path of their weapons, we need to spare the shields for now."

"Got it Captain!"

"What of the cruiser?"

"We lost him, captain! He disappeared!"

The ship stopped flying downward and made another 90º turn. It was fairly obvious that the other frigates were not shooting because they were hardly keeping up with the new vessel.

"Roll to the right, then make a U turn to get behind them. Once in position, fire upon them."

"On it!"

The Nautilus quickly maneuvered itself, leaning to one side and quickly turning right until it had done a complete turn. Has it came behind the frigates, they all dispersed.

"Follow the one in the upper right, it is the fastest one of the bunch."

The Nautilus was now in pursuit and it's superior speed allowed it to quickly catch the runaway.

"FIRE the Thanix canon!"

The Thanix Canon popped from underneath the ship, charging power and pointed directly at the enemy frigate. As it fired, the beam tore through the ship's shields and tore through it, leaving it to explode.

"Sir, one of the frigates is on our tail!"

"No it isn't! He is behind us and we still have quite the distance. Besides, the side of both ships would make such impossible!"

"He means he is coming from behind, SIR!"

"What about the others?"

"Gone sir! We can't find them!"

Delfim looked at the screen. "Tutelius tactic? Richard, the cruiser will be in our front in a few moments."

"How do you know that, sir?" asked Richard.

"The other two frigate's are going to flank us! This is Tutelius tactic! Surround the enemy and hit with everything they have."

The pilot was confused. "That doesn't sound like a salarian tactic, Delfim."

"It's not… it's Turian." This shut the pilot off.

And as Delfim predicted, the cruiser was coming towards them.

"The other two frigates are coming on our sides sir!"

Richard was looking at the screen and asked "Should I pull up? Or Down?"

"… bring more energy to the fields, we are going to do a Barrel Roll around the Cruiser."

"_Captain, that is highly illogical, we will be to close for a safe attack." _Machina's voice sounded, with a bit of worry.

"And so will him. Besides, we won't have much space to maneuver if we wait too long. The main point of the Tutelius tactic is to cut of maneuverability of the opponent making them easy targets. Richard, full speed and shields up! Everybody hang on!"

The Nautilus went forward, coming close to the cruiser, who started to shoot at the smaller ship. Expertly dodging the shots, the ship came closer and started to roll around the larger one, who stopped firing due to the close proximity of the smaller vessel.

However, the other vessels didn't, so the shields were grazed by a few rapid shots in mid maneuver. Nonetheless, the ship barreled through and left the enemy's behind to regroup.

"Sir, shields down to 85 percent and regenerating!" informed Rea over the comn.

"Turn around and fire another shot. Focus on the frigates for now." Said Delfim.

The Nautilus turned around to be met by the frigates, as the Cruiser was still turning.

"All weapons, fire!"

Colorful lights flashing through space as the ships traded shots. The Thanix canon was charging again even as all this color show was going around.

"I can't get a lock on for the Thanix canon sir!" said Richard. "Enemy ships are moving in circles around!"

"Misdirection Selethene moves. Asari now. Whoever is in charge knows some good tactics." Said Delfim. "How are our shields?"

"Holding for now, but taking too much damage sir!"

"Then we need a new strategy! This frigates are not that well-armed, so focus on one of them until we can bring their shields down."

"That is risky, but if you say so…" said Richard.

The fire was now focused on one of the frigates, whose shields were falling fast. The other ships were not idle as they continued with their own attacks.

"Keep moving, our advantage is the speed of this ship, let's use it!" said Delfim.

Richard nodded and started to move the ship to avoid enemy fire, leaning and going to the left still firing at the other frigate, whose shields had just gone down.

"Target the thrusters on that frigate for an AI Hack!"

"_Acknowledged!" _said Isaac focusing on the enemy.

Soon the enemy's thrusters stopped. "Fire the Thanix! Finish that one off!" yelled Delfim.

It was not needed to say twice as the canon blasted that frigate apart. Now only two remained, but the cruiser was coming closer.

"… Isaac, establish communications with the cruiser."

"_Acknowledged!" _There was a moment of pause before the image of a salarian appeared on the screen.

"This is USSV Nautilus, turn down your weapon systems and surrender yourselves. You are trespassing into USA Space."

"**Ha, a lowly varren tries to command us? How amusing."** Spoke the salarian, a sneer present in his face.

"… I am a human being, Sekito here is the Varren. You should get your eyes checked."

Sekito barked as if to confirm. The salarian shook his head. **"It is obvious that humanity has lost quite a few brain cells from being near the Krogans for so long, but what can you expect."**

Delfim seemed to ignore that as he went straight to the point. "Surrender now, my ship is equipped to deal with all three of your ships."

"**Is it now? I pretty much doubt it. You have been lucky so far, your speed caught us off guard, but your luck ends now."**

"… will you not reconsider?" asked Delfim.

"**Now you beg? HA! I will enjoy tearing your ship apart!"** with that, the line was cut, leaving the ship in silence.

"What do we do now, Captain?" asked Richard.

"… if we can time the shot, blowing up the cruiser could cause enough of a blast to damage the shields of the other two frigates and open them to hacking."

"But how will we OH!" Richard turned back. "Can we do that?"

Delfim didn't answer him, instead he opened the comn with the weapon's systems. "Prepare the Tower of Light. We will finish that cruiser right away."

"As you command!"

"Sir, can you really use the weapon like that? Don't we need…"

"The weapon was made for emergencies. This is one of them. They refuse to surrender and have a well-armed cruiser. If we get in a fire fight, our shields will drop before theirs and this ship will be heavily damaged."

"Alright, if you say so. But what about the Admiral?"

"_The admiral as stated that the closest patrol unit will take 20 minutes to come out of Hyper Jump in order to assist. By then, this ship would have taken heavy damage."_

"The cruiser is launching missiles towards us sir!"

"… I want them tagged by the lasers. Take as little fire as possible. Ready to fire the Tower of Light on my signal!"

Outside, the various missiles were being destroyed by the lasers of Nautilus, leaving the smoked remains in clouds all over the space. Shots were being fired, though a lot of them where coming from the Cruiser, who seemed to be focusing the ships weapons on them.

"Shields at 45% sir and dropping!" Rea's voice was filled with worry.

"Hold steady!" said Delfim, looking at the cruiser as it came closer in order to employ even more weaponry on them.

Just a few more seconds, the cruiser was unknowingly getting into position…

"Shields at 30!"

"Steady!"

"_The shields are taking too much damage, captain!" _Machina's voice sounded through the CIC.

"Almost there…" was all the answer he was given.

"Shields below 20% sir!"

"NOW!"

From within the two arms of the ship, a ball of energy was formed, like a small sun, who seemed to compress and become even brighter. Once it was at a third of it's original size, shining like it was plasma, it went straight into the cruiser at speeds that made it seem like a blur.

At first nothing happened. Then the entire ship was engulfed by a gigantic orange orb that was growing from the inside out, engulfing the entire ship. Just as it had engulfed all, it imploded, the shockwave hitting the two smaller frigates, whose shields simply frizzled out of existence. The Frigate more to the left of the cruiser was too close, and part of it was now burning. The other seemed to be simply jolted back by the blast, drifting for a while with no control.

On board of Nautilus, Delfim watched this without a hint of change, even as the rest of the crew were watching in awe. "Finish the right frigate. The left one is too damaged to escape."

"Yes sir!" yelled a happy Richard, knowing that they had everything under control now.

As the Nautilus fired upon the new frigate, Machina's voice sounded through the CIC.

"_We admit. Despite the damage our shields have taken, the timing was perfect captain."_

The captain seemed to relax, his face losing the frown and edge as his voice returned to it's soft tone. "We had to time it right. Else the hit would have been less effective. Plus we now have extra data about the weapon's area of effect and how powerful it is. Have you recorded it, Isaac?"

"_Yes captain. We have recorded the event, and weapon's bay is sending a report about the weapon's performance from within the algorithms and power drains."_

"Good. Patch me through to the Admiral."

Isaac made a few noises and soon the image of the admiral appeared on the screens.

"**Captain! Just hold on for a few more minutes. The Patrol unit is coming towards you. ETA 5 minutes."**

"… that won't be necessary, Admiral. The threat has been neutralized. I require permission to land on the Colony Horizon."

"**What? How did you? The latest report from Isaac stated that there were 4 frigates and a cruiser!"**

"There were. At this point one of the cruisers and two of the…" at this, the third frigate exploded. "… three of the frigates have been destroyed. The last one is too damaged to make an escape…" Just then, the entire frigate exploded. "… the hostiles have been completely annihilated sir. No survivors."

"**But how did you… did you employ the Tower of Light?"**

"…" Delfim remained quiet for a while. "… our situation was dire, we had been discovered and our shields were dropping fast. I tried to end this with a peaceful surrender, but they did not agree with us. I decided to use the Tower of Light."

"**The experts won't be happy, they had planned a nice big target to test that thing. Did you get any data from it?"**

"Yes, we will be sending it with my report of the event. However, we require landing in Horizon as to perform some of the repairs necessary."

"**I will contact the colony them, tell them the news. You did good Delfim."**

"…" Delfim remained quiet before he spoke. "The team did good sir."

Shepard laughed over the comn before he turned it off. With that, Delfim turned to the varren who was trembling in the ground.

"… the battle is already over, Sekito. You can stop covering your eyes now…"

**Codex:**

_**USA- **__United Species Alliance was an alliance made of Humans, Quarians, geths, Krogan and rachni in times of need that still remains strong. Despite not having a base yet, the government of such alliance is made with members of each species to represent them in the "Admiralty Board". This alliance encompasses the home-worlds of each species and colonies._

_**USSV- **__United Species Space Vehicle denomination. While any ship that belongs to USA carries this denomination, some ships have an extra denomination. __**USQSV**__ refers to Quarian based ships, and are ships whose primary focus is energy weapons that bring the enemy ship's shields down. __**USGSV **__refers to geth based ships, focusing on armor piercing weapons and hacking technology, often cooperating with quarian ships for more effectiveness. __**USKSV **__for krogan ships, based on high offense and defense, often sacrificing the speed of the ship. __**USRSV **__for Rachni ships, which while they are few, they seem to focus on speed and weapon power over defense, teaming up with the krogans for a deadly combo. __**USHSV **__for human vessels, who bet more on variety than the other species._

_**Human- **__After the reaper wars, Earth was in shambles and with little help from it's previous allies. Thanks to the Quarian contribution, and reconnection with former colonies, humanity is the driving force behind the USA, a point of development for the culture lacking Quarians and Krogan, as well as helping uplift the Rachnis. At this point they are the most populous of the races among USA, with at least 5 colonies still alive, Including Horizon and Terra Nova as examples._

_**Quarian- **__Getting back their home-world was just the first of many steps for the quarians. They had lot of problems adapting to a new sedentary life style, as well as making use of the fields. Fortunately, humanity saw fit to gather all the info they could while they were a citadel species, and it proved invaluable for the quarians. Nowadays they are expanding, with already 1 colony and another planet ready to become the second. Thanks to the geth, their immune system has grown stronger, however they still wear the enviro-suits both as a precaution and as a cultural part of their society. The willingness to be in the same space without the enviro-suit, or parts of it, denotes a great deal of trust among Quarians._

_Social studies indicate that quarians have taken a great interest on human culture, such as music, sports and other arts, even going as far as adopting some of these into their own growing culture. _

_**Geth- **__Sentient AIs created by the quarians many years ago, they rebelled, leading to the Geth wars. Though the reasons behind the war still remain a bit of a touchy subject with both species, ever since the war the geth have been integrating with the quarians more and more. Now they practically live in the same places as quarians and have same rights, even if there are a few quarians that have less than respectable opinions about them._

_The geth have many categorys depending on their fucntions. For military purpuses, they have the __**Ghost Units, **__who turn invisible and get close to the enemy, the __**Hoppers, **__who can use athletic skills in order to crawl on ceilings, pass through tight spaces and attack with a laser in their optics. The __**Destroyers **__who are large sized geth made for full out combat with diferent kinds of built in guns and most of the time acting as moving communication hubs. The __**Armatures **__who are tank size four legged geths capable of causing serious damage and the __**Divers **__who connect with the systems of a ship to both protect the systems, main the guns and launch hacking operations._

_**Krogan- **__Curing the Genophage was the best thing that happened with the Krogan. With their population growing, they were able to build their empire with a much brighter future on front. Despite that, the help given by humans and quarians helped in their evolution._

_In military terms, they have a few classes. A __**Krogan Medic, **__who knows just as much about healing as wielding guns. __**Battle Tech, **__wielding a more tech related arsenal, though these are fairly rare. __**Berserker, **__Who is the more common, charge head on with brutal strength and close combat expertise and __**Biotic Brawler, **__who combines biotics with it's natural skills. In addition, any type of Krogan can become a __**Battle Master **__if his skills, years of experience and his performance during his Right of Passage._

_In addition, their fast reproduction has helped them claim two new colonies near their planet, though it has shown some signs of stability as of late. Like the Quarians, they have taken interest in human culture, but more so on the more violent sports, like wrestling, boxing and so on._

_**Rachni- **__The illusive rachnis have once been considered the greatest threats in the entire galaxy. Now, despite their smaller number, they are valued members of USA thanks to the pact made between Admiral Shepard and the Rachni queen. There are trying to adapt technologies from their allies into their lives, but there has been quite a progress in their development. _

_There are up to 3 types of battle Rachni: the smaller versions, sometimes carried by others, which explode in contact with the enemy, called __**Larvae. **__The __**Karas**__, middle ranked rachnis who have two tentacles that sprout acid, can crawl on walls and catch the enemy by surprise with their speed. Then there is the __**Tsalis, **__bigger bulk, dumber brain, and Geth assisted canons on their bodies, this rachnis are the long range infantry to deal more damage. They also carry 3 sacks of acid which they can spit at close range as an extra weapon._

_Despite it all, they still are a developing species. Their speech patterns, when not controlled by the queen, are fragmented and rushed. Not only that, but their military ships are the lowest among the allied species. On the other hand, they are among the most creative when it comes to ship weapons and Mass Destruction Devices. _

_**Varren- **__A pet? Or a battle asset? Regardless of how they may seem, even the Varren have shown to have evolved, as different species have been appearing. Starting with the __**Battle Varren, **__with light colors and broader figure, often carrying armor to protect them as they charge against the opponent, drawing fire upon themselves. The __**Nocturnal Varren, **__which have dark colors, from dark blue to complete dark, inhabit worlds that have very little light or very short day-compared-to-night cycles. The __**Race Varren, **__who may have any sort of different colors due to the diferent components given in their food to increase their performance and the __**Biotic Varren, **__who assume a red almost pink coloration due to exposure to element zero, which changes their skin color and gives them minor biotic abilities._

_Nowadays, the military has seen fit to use trained Varren on wars, though mostly never see the inside of a ship. This is because Varrens have a certain phobia related to the Hyper Jump, as no Varren has ever felt comfortable during the jump. _

_**Horizon- **__Once a great pioneer in colonies of the Terminus System, now a place of many bad memories. Starting with the collector attack, ending with the Cerberus scheme, the colony of Horizon has seen better days and is only now starting to accept help from USA, though they still seem somewhat uncertain about it._

_Horizon only has one major city at this point, and development is slow due to all the incidents that happened here. Nonetheless, it still is one of humanities remaining living colonies in space, proving humanities desire to survive._

_**Hyper Jump- **__The quarians decided that instead of depending on obsolete technology which would take generations to be effective again, since it would require the rebuild of the Mass Relays, they decided to invent some new way of travel. This was only possible by a discovery made by Dr. Michio Kaku, a human investigator who announced the discovery of __**Negative Matter.**__ This matter defined the laws of Einstein, beinding time and space itself and allowing an object to move from one place to another._

_The Hyper Jump was then created, which is resulting of a system added to the Ship's drice core which would allow the ship to manipulate Negative matter in order to be transported immediately from one system to another is record time._

_In todays age, it takes the Hyper Jump 20 minutes for a frigate sized ship to get from one system to another. A cruiser gets 45 minutes and a Dreadnaught takes up to 1 hour to get to a new system._

_The major problem with Hyper Jump is the turbulence caused by it, which can go from a light shake of the ship to earthquake of 6 of magnitude in the Richter Scale. Nonetheless, the discovery of the Hyper Jump revolutionized the USA, who now use this extensively._

_**Tower of Light- **__Also known as the Final Flash, was a Rachni invention. They believed that no ship is too small to have a powerful weapon and it was designed to give frigate sized ships an edge against the bigger and bulkier ships. It works with the manipulation of fissile materials, concentrating them before firing it into an enemy ship. It's power burns through enemy's shields and as it expands it engulfs everything within before imploding, creating small shockwaves that may hit and cause damage to other ships near the target._

_The main issues with this weapon is the fact that it can only fire one shot before it needs maintenance, forcing the user of such weapon too time the shots right. On the other hand, if wrongly handled, it could cause damage to the ship that fired it. Thus additional field tests were required to test the weapon's potential and things that can be improved._

_This is a prototype only, installed on the USSV Nautilus for testing. No other USA ship as access yet to this weapon. _

Peace Out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Delfim: **Hey everyone my name is Delfim the Black Kitsune and welcome to another chapter of this story.

Before we go into this chapter, I would like to address a few things.

The same person that suggested me those characters suggested me a Female Krogan for the pairing, which sounds awesome I'm not gona lie, but I don't know if I should or not. Leave your comments on the reviews.

Also No one has yet to give any ideas for any extra aliens so for now, the raloi seem like they are here to stay.

Furthermore, someone complained that in the battlefield I shouldn't have made so much dialogue between the captain and the people of the ship, especially if it is just to question him. I agree with you, but I wanted to make the dialogue more expanded both for the readers and to give transition to this chapter, as you will see right in the beginning.

Finally, about the Hyper Jump… Someone asked if there were two times: one in the space ship and one outside the spaceship. Close but not quite. The time spend is roughly the same, 20 minutes, the location is the one that changes. Now you may say "But how does that work?" Well… it is true that Hyper Jump allows one object to be transported from one place of the Universe to another, but the transition is not completely stable, does creating the drift: the amount of time that passes between the moment they first entered Hyper Jump and the moment they leave the Hyper Jump.

This is the best way I can explain to you hope that you are no longer confused.

Anyway onto the chapter

"Hello"- most people talking.

"_Greetings." – Geth talking._

"Greetings!" – rachni speaking.

"**Do you copy?" – comn speaking.**

**Chapter 4 Ground Test**

As the ship made it's way towards the nearby colony, there was a change in the crew: gone were any doubts concerning their captain, with a new found respect for the strange yet effective man that was leading them.

As Delfim walked around the ship, making sure that everything checks before he presents his report, both Rhokai and Bora congratulated him for the battle tactics. Thorin had complained about not being able to pilot the fighters into combat but congratulated the captain nonetheless. Even the two geths seemed to praise the captain's logic while going over the battle in lengthy detail.

To all this, Delfim remained impassive, not responding to the praise at all. He asked for a vid of the battle to Machina, so he could send it with the report, asked Isaac to standby and be ready to send same report, gave a curt nod to both Bora and Rhokai… and went into great lengh with Thorin on how the fighter would have been ineffective on the combat scenario they had faced.

As he was making his way to Engineering, he kept humming a funerary march, unnerving the people that heard him. At his side, Sekito barked as if singing along.

"… you are out of tune…" Sekito growled, as if offended. "… you are still out of tune, regardless of whether you growl or not."

Sekito barked madly, apparently he didn't like the critic. Delfim seemed to listen to it all in silence, observing the animal even as he pushed the button of the elevator.

"I did not comment on whether it was difficult or not to reach the note, I only stated that you were out of tone. You do not need to feel insulted." Sekito kept growling. Delfim turned away from it and started to whistle again, this time slower and louder. After a few notes, he turned to the varren and said "This is the proper tune of the music."

They soon reached Engineering, where they saw Rhea looking over the monitors while talking with the crew. "I just checked the modules, no damage. Continue with shield regeneration protocols."

"Yes mam!"

She then noticed the presence of Delfim, standing there with Sekito. "Ah, Captain. I just finished with the ship's scans. No damage, the shields are already regenerating and should be at full power in a 12 minutes."

"… good, that means we were successful."

"Yes, your plan was risky, but worked." Said Rhea, showing him a datapad. "Any more damage and the shields might have dropped."

"That wouldn't do, it would put the crew at risk. That wasn't the objective." He then analised the datapad and nodded. "Send all this date to my terminal so I can add it to my report."

"Got it sir, and might I say congratulations, that was very impressive."

At this she got a surprising reaction: Delfim frowned, almost tired, only to shake his head and return to his normal blank stare. "Why does everybody congratulate me? I only did my job."

Rhea looked at him, confused. "Well, yeah but you were able to beat the odds! 4 frigates and one cruiser with only a frigate and a skeletal crew!"

"I was just doing my job, and me alone couldn't do it. It was because everyone was doing their jobs that we were able to pull it off. So why do people keep congratulating me? If anything this reflects on our crew, which while small was able to achieve victory."

"Yeah, but you gave the orders. You were the one responsible for our actions here. So just like you would be the one to blame had we failed, you also receive praise when we succeed."

"That is not true. I may be the highest ranking officer in the ship, but all I did was coordinate the efforts…"

"Which means you had to look after everything. Each of us were focused on our own tasks while you were focusing on everything. That makes your part even more important."

Delfim stared at her in silence, turni8ng his head to the side as if studying her. Sekito seemed to look from between Delfim and Rhea before barking loudly, which snapped Delfim out of his stare and turned to the varren.

"… I do recognize her point, I am not that shallow." At Sekito's barks, Delfim frowned. "… fine…" He then turned back to Rhea. "I admit you have a valid point, however I stand by the fact that our victory was only possible due to the cooperation of everyone on this ship."

Rhea giggled. "Well okay then, I guess you are right. Just don't underestimate your own importance, sir."

"I never did that." Said Delfim. "I recognize my importance and I will perform accordingly. I know my duties."

Rhea couldn't help but smile at that. "So tell me, how do you understand Sekito?"

Sekito barked at being addressed. Delfim looked at him momentarly before replying. "… Varrens are fairly expressive and intelligent. Despite their lack of capacity to speak any form of translatable vocal language, they can convey their thoughts through a system of barks and body language which is fairly simple to decode."

Rhea looked at Sekito, who seemed lost as he looked at Delfim, tilting his head and looking dumb. She found Varrens to be quite ugly, but very useful in battle, specially with the right equipment…

"I see…" Rhea said. "He seems… well trained at least. How expensive is it to train a varren?"

"… I trained Sekito myself."

Rhea looked shocked. "You… you did?"

Delfim nodded. "I studied Varren's training methods, special diets depending on what tasks they are meant to perform, equipment that would make training easier and armor for combat." Delfim then turned to look at Sekito, who barked at him. "… he was my responsibility, so I did my best to adapt to him in my life."

"Ah… but wouldn't it be easier to trust professionals to train him?"

Delfim stayed silent for a while, his head bowed forward as he seemed to ponder his answer. Then he looked at her again and said "It might seem easier, but if there was some form of regression in his behavior to a more violent state, I would be dependent of the trainer to bring him back. Furthermore, while studying the varrens, I learned far more about them then I would if I had trusted the trainer. I still depend on veterinarians as medical issues are far more sensitive, but overall I tried to make us both more independent."

Rhea nodded. "I see. I suppose that makes sense. But I bet it wasn't easy."

Delfim tilted his head, confused. "Sekito is well behaved, thus proves that I was successful. The difficulty has no point in this matter anymore. Besides, the pros of training a varren for was outweigh the cons of having him aboard."

At this, Sekito barked loud and angrily. Delfim turned to him, listening to his barks quietly before speacking: "… you try to mark your territory everywhere despite previous warnings, you hate the hyper Jump and you bother other crew members for food despite the 32 times that I have already explained to you that you must follow the diet set in place. Do I need to continue?"

Sekito whined embarrassed at all the points that Delfim made. Rhea however couldn't help herself but chuckle at the scene, something that drew Delfim's attention. "There."

"Huh? What?"

"That sound you just made." While maintaining tone and expression, he walked so that he was standing right in front of her, face very close to her mask. "That sound that everyone makes. The chuckling, the laughing, the giggling… why do you do that? What is the point of that?"

Rhea choke on her answer. The question was weird on itself, but the proximity of her captain was a bit staggering. Even more when she noticed that his eyes seemed focused on where her voice came through the mask, as if looking at her lips…

"Hum… Why do I laugh?" she asked to be sure. At his nod, she replied "Well, why not? It was funny!"

"What was?" He asked, this time you could hear curiosity in his tone. "Everyone keeps telling me that they find my comments funny, but I never felt the need to giggle or laugh like they do."

"Well, I found it funny. The idea of someone scolding a varren like they would a person seemed funny."

"Why? Varren are fairly intelligent and can understand us when we speak. It would be logical to talk to him as he is: a sentient and sapient creature."

"But I found it funny. Different people find different things funny, so they laugh at different things."

Delfim stood silent for a few seconds before stepping back, allowing Rhea to breath in relief. "…I never laughed." She turned back to him as he looked away. "I recognize the health benefits that come from laughing: it works muscles in the abdominal area, it increases the effectiveness of the immune system and allows for a positive and cheap outlet for stress. However, I never felt the need to laugh in my life, nor do I understand when others find it so easily."

Rhea down, unsure of what to say. "Hum… maybe you just haven't found anything that you would find funny yet."

"… I doubt it…" Delfim turned to her again. "I have attended Laugh Therapy, watched humoristic videos and comedy shows with different types of humor and heard several jokes… all were ineffective." Delfim then looked down. "I believe that I am just… humorless."

That made the cogs in Rhea's mind start to work. He didn't feel amusement? At all? Why and How? Was this part of him being authist, or something more? And was that the only emotion that he didn't feel… or was completely emotionless.

Before she could ponder anymore, Richard's voice reached them through the comns. "Captain, we have landed. A representative of Horizon wants to see you."

"… Thank you, Richard." Delfim then turned away and said "I need to go."

"Right, well, I'll send that report once I am done here."

Delfim nodded and left with Sekito behind him. Once he reached CIC, he turned to Isaac and spoke "Follow me."

"_Acknowledged." _

Outside, in the hangar, a short man awaited them. Not small, just shorter than average man, with black combed hair, a cream sleeveless jacket and black cargo pants. He was staring at the ship ion awe, until he noticed the two new arrivals.

His reaction to Isaac was to be expected. Horizon people were very paranoid, and they didn't trust the geth all that much, so him looking from the corner of the eye was still better than some would have reacted. Plus Horizon isolated itself from everyone after the Reaper Wars and only now where they coming out of it, so seeing geths and Rachnis working with humans was a big shock. But he seemed to ignore the A.I. once he turned his attention to Delfim.

"You must be the captain. I am Chief Patrick, head of this colony." Patrick extended his hand for a shake. Delfim stared at his hand for a second before grasping it with his own for a shake, bringing a smile to Patrick's face. "On behalf of everyone I would like to thank you for your quick intervention."

"… we came as soon as we were debriefed about your situation…" explained Delfim as he pulled his hand back from the shake. "I would like to ask some questions."

"Well sure, but I don't know how much I can help."

Delfim nodded then turned to Isaac. "Please record the following conversation."

"As you command captain."

"Wait, you want to record the conversation?" asked Patrick, not liking where this was going. "Are you interrogating me?"

"… no, but in case your information allows to draw some conclusion out of this situation, I would prefer to have it recorded to then send to the Admiralty Board. Rest assured, you are not being charged of anything."

"Ah, well like I said, I won't know how much I can answer. We know little. Still, after taking 4 frigates and a cruiser, I suppose I can try to help."

Delfim looked confused. "How did you know what happened?"

"The same way we first noticed the cruiser. We have people watching the skies with telescopes and probes around the system." Explained Patrick. "Let's just say that some people here were a bit… afraid? No no, maybe precautious. Yes that fits."

Delfim nodded. "How long have this ships been sighed?"

"Well the cruiser appears from time to time, and we first spotted it… roughly 3 months ago. But he never stayed long. The frigates however… we have never seen them before."

"… you admit you have never saw those frigates before?"

"Yes, it was always that cruiser. Actually we only saw the frigates after you had arrived." Said Patrick with a frown.

Delfim frowned as well, thinking about the new information. Then he spoke. "Do you know where the cruiser came from?"

"Hum… no not really." Confessed Patrick. "He appears around the system from time to time and never stays for more than a few minutes before leaving. That is really all I can tell you about it."

"…" Delfim stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. "I noticed that the five vessels had the same symbol in the hull. Isaac, show the images I asked for."

"_Yes captain."_ From the optic an image appeared. It was taken from the video of the battle, during the barrel roll moment. There, on the right side of the hull, was a large circle with three comas. Another image flashed of the different frigates, each sporting the same circle.

"… Have you ever seen this symbol?"

"Hum… no I don't think so." Said Patrick, looking at the symbol intently. "I could ask some people in the colony, but I don't think they will know more about this than we both do, captain."

"… Very well. Thank you for your cooperation. That will be all."

"Of course. Do you need anything? Supplies perhaps? We can restock the ship if you want."

"… The ship was restocked before we came to this system. There will be no need for that. I thank you for your offer though."

"Well then, I won't hold you anymore… Take care, Captain."

As Patrick left, Delfim stared at him going. Then he turned to Isaac and asked "Was he holding me? I did not feel it."

"_Negative captain. His hands were nowhere near you. I believe he was using an expression similar to the one that states I won't spend any more of your time."_

"…" Delfim frowned for a moment, then shook his head. "I shall ask Rhea later. I will compile all the data. Prepare to send the report to the admiralty board."

"_Acknowledged."_

…

Rhea was sitting down for a bit, letting the other engineers work. She had just finished her report and send it to Delfim, and was relaxing a bit.

Delfim… her new captain was… intriguing. She was worried when her first interaction went… well, it was bad by any definition. She came out cocky and to assured of herself and ended up burned halfway.

But he seemed to take things in a different way. For one, he didn't see the situation for what it was: a failure on her part. Second, he seemed content with the fact that the error was corrected and that she felt bad about it. Not sure if he was just naïve or philosophical.

Then his seemed very open about things and she found herself listening to him with rapt attention. The tone and expression rarely changed, never betraying anything but a pure analyses.

Yet there were a few hints here and there… for example he didn't memorized "Soldier's" name, which showed that he didn't think much of the guy considering that he knew Richard's name. Another thing was his dedication to the Varren and his sense of responsibility. He took the Varren in and instead of just assuming he would adapt to his new life, he adapted his life to having Sekito in it.

She sighed. Truthfully she didn't know why she was thinking of her captain so much. Maybe because he was different? She has met a lot of different people during her pilgrimage, yet none like him. Maybe it was because of her own preferences…

Rhea has always been a huge androphiliac. She loved humans! The weird way their legs bended, the broader and stronger frame that most carried, how much they could convey through expressions… even the fact they grew hair on their faces was both weird and funny to Rhea.

But he was so different. She felt intrigued, he acted like no one she had ever met, safe for the geths, and even then there was something different about him…

"Rhea, the captain wants to see you in the comn room. Isaac is making the connection with the Admiralty Board."

Well that sounded serious. She wasted no time getting to the elevator and pressing up. When she reached the first floor, she saw Sekito gnawing at what seemed to be a chewing toy.

Ignoring him for now, knowing that she had to reach the comn room, so passing by the distracted Varren, she saw Isaac outside of the room connected to a panel. "_The captain is inside. He was waiting for you before starting the meeting."_

This caught Rhea by surprise. "He was?"

"_Yes, he said that it would be better for the XO to be present."_

Ah, that made more sense. "… okay. I think I will… go in then."

She entered the room where Delfim was playing with a datapad. He didn't take his eyes of it as he said "I wanted to go over a few things before the meeting with you."

"Yes sir."

Delfim then turned to her. "After extensive analyses, I came to the conclusion that Horizon might be in danger and sent my suspicions with the report."

Rhea stomach ran cold as he said that. "What?"

"… the reports state that a cruiser was saw for months before today, but only in the recent battle where the frigates seen. This suggests that they might have a base for quick deployment nearby."

"But… are you sure? It could be that they were always there but never seen."

"Unlikely, the system is filled with all types of probes and telescopes to watch over everything. One frigate might escape notice if he flew in a careful pattern, but not four frigates, much less in close proximity to a carefully monitored cruiser. I have hacked into their video feeds for a month and analyzed them with the help of Machina, the four frigates where not there before we arrived."

Rhea then frowned. "A base? Are you saying this is a mercenary gang? A Terrorist cell?"

"At the bare minimum, but it might be a paramilitary group. The weaponry on the cruiser seems to indicate they are well armed despite the state of their ships. Furthermore, they employed military tactics that require quite the knowledge and experience to pull off, as they are particular to certain militaries, namely council species tactics."

"Keelah, and they have a base nearby?"

"Judging by the speed of the frigates, they must have some form of space station near the system, but far enough not to be detected, a margin of 50 to 72 light-years from the system."

"That is way to close!"

"Indeed, considering the hostile actions they took." Said Delfim. He then pressed a few buttons on the datapad and said "That was all I needed to highlight. The test revealed that somehow they were able to detect us even with the stealth system. Which means that either something is wrong with it, or the enemy as developed a way to still find us."

"Neither of which are good." Said Rhea. "But the stealth system was far… at least, as far as I could tell."

"Yes, I read your report. Which means that they must have access to technology we don't." Delfim then nodded. "That was all I needed to speak with you, any questions?"

"Hum… why is Sekito outside?"

"He get's bored during long conversations. It's best for him to stay out there playing with his toy."

"He won't… break anything, will he?"

"No, he is only training his jaw muscles right now, I am sure he will behave. Anything else?"

"Hum… well, hum I guess that is it, sir."

Delfim nodded, turning to the monitors. He then pressed a few buttons and the holograms of the Admiralty Board appeared.

Besides Shepard and Tali, now stood holograms of a tall battle scared red plated krogan. Another war hero named Urdnot Wrex, who is the most revered Krogan of all times due to his actions while curing the genophage. He stood with a grin while cracking his neck.

Beside him was a strange geth. Instead of standing on two legs, this one had wheels and a bulkier appearance, with three different antennas sticking out of his back and capable of carrying the most amount of programs yet: a whopping 8075 different programs and all answered to the name Babbage. The optic swirled as he looked towards the captain, awaiting the beginning of the meeting.

Last was the rachni's representative, larger than a normal rachni, with blue stripes running all over his body from the top of the head to the back and wings sprouting off his back, this rachni was supposedly a "prince", though instead of being programmed for reproduction, it was trained to serve as the queen's voice, as such, it used the name Sercis. It seemed to look at others often as he appeared.

Tali still dressed her purple enviro-suit as she stood, however there where signs that she was nervous as her hands were clasped together tightly.

Lastly Shepard looked grave and serious.

"**Captain, we read your report, is it accurate?" **asked Shepard.

"… yes."

"**And your theories?"**

"They are just that, though the threat seems to suggest they might be more than theories."

"**He is right, Shepard."** Spoke Tali. **"The threat is there."**

"**I know that, and I am not going to be blind enough to allow this to continue until it blows in our faces. I just need to know the captain's opinion first."**

"… they had impressive tactics and weaponry, but the ships themselves weren't really consistent and were based on older models. With the help of the video feed from Machina, I was able to identify parts of TSSV Tarakus."

"**That is a Turian cruiser."** Said Wrex. **"Not too shabby until it was taken by pirates. By the time they found the ship, it was a pile of useless junk and lots of cleanup to do."**

"**When did this happen, Wrex?"** asked Shepard, interested.

"**Hard to say, I know I was involved, one of the first jobs I did when I became a mercenary so…" **The krogan seemed to do some calculation but ended giving up by saying **"Yeah many years." **

"_**The use of parts of such an old ship is a risk. The integrity of the metal plus the fact that it must be outdated suggest that it's uses are limited." **_Spoke Babbage.

"**But cheaper then building ship from scrap yes?" **Asked Serci. **"Easy to find parts: shipyards!"**

"**Now that you mention it, I think there was a shipyard near Iea system." **Said Shepard, now considering things. **"This gives us a starting point. And with the battle the systems of the Nautilus were pretty much tested in the most practical sense of the word, all that remains is testing the Mako."**

"**I got an idea for that." **Wrex said with a grin. **"There is a klixen nest I would like to get rid off. Send them here and let them take care of it."**

"**What do you think, captain, can your team handle a Kilxen nest?"**

"… Rhokai's file indicates that this wouldn't be the first time dealing with such a situation and in theory the Mako should be armed and armored enough for the task."

"Are you sure captain?" asked Rhea, uncertain. "We are talking about fire breathing insects!"

"**What's got your panties in a twist, quarian?" **Asked Wrex mockingly.

Both Rhea and Tali glared at Wrex but it was Delfim who responded: "Quarians do not wear panties. Panties are a human undergarment. Quarians, both male and female use the enviro-suits only and normally don't wear any other form of clothing underneath."

While Wrex laughed at the now embarrassed quarians, Shepard sighed. **"Riiiiight, well, the test is a good idea, especially if they get another detailed report like your last one captain. They seemed impressed with the level of detail you put into it."**

"… I understand the significance of these tests and made sure to give any information that I found pertinent."

"**Then we expect the same for the Mako." **Shepard then turned to the others and since none spoke, he said **"Admiralty Board out."**

The holograms disappeared and as soon as they did, Rhea exploded. "Captain! What was that all about?"

Delfim turned to her, confused. "We just had a meeting with the Admiralty Board."

"I know that! But why did you have to say that we wear nothing underneath our suits? That is personal!"

"… he asked what got your panties in a twist. I merely pointed out that quarians don't use such garments."

"But you did not have to reveal that we don't use nothing under the suit?" yelled Rhea.

"… why does that make you angry?"

Rhea was about to explode when she noticed something: there was no hint of malice in his tone. Genuine curiosity was present, nothing more. She then remembered that he saw things in a different way, so perhaps he did not understood why that was embarrassing.

"Because… because you basically exposed us. I mean it feels like that, it feels like we were exposed."

"You still have the enviro-suit on, and anyone can search for a quarian's anatomy in the designated books and files referring to them."

"But you can't reduce it to just that! How would you feel if I said that you brought pink underwear today?" she asked, annoyed.

"… I would tell you you are wrong, my underwear is bright blue. Also I would inform you that I do not have any form of underwear in the color pink."

Rhea sighed. "Well… it's just… it is a bit of a… secret that we don't wear anything under the suit, and you just went and said it like it's normal… it is not, it is personal!"

"I see. I understand now… it is one of those things that causes embarrassment when spoken in public."

"Yes, that is it."

"Then I would like to apologize for embarrassing you." Said Delfim with a bow, which actually startled Rhea. "I did not wish to embarrass you and I will try to avoid speaking of quarian's lack of clothes under the enviro-suit."

"Well I… I suppose I did overreact."

"No, in an embarrassing situation, people tend to behave in strange and sometimes extreme manners. Yours wasn't out of such spectrum."

Rhea giggled. "Nothing bothers you, does it?"

"No, I am easily bothered." This caught her by surprise as she looked at him, who now seem to lean forward, looking at the ground. "Lacking understanding on something bothers me, makes me feel inadequate. I also hate when I misunderstand an expression or words, as it is quite a current shortcoming of mine. In fact a lot of things do bother me…"

She stared at her captain, who at this moment looked more human than ever. After his latest success and the way he handled things, he looked so… invincible, unshakeable, something… and now he looked so… vulnerable.

Then he straightened up and turn to her again, his eyes back to the dull look as he spoke "But I have a mission, a task in which I must focus on and as long as I have that, I can ignore all that bothers me."

"Just like that?" asked Rhea.

Delfim nodded. Then he frowned and said "You seemed to have some reluctance about the klixen nest, is there something bothering you?"

"Well… we are going to use on Mako… to hit a nest filled with fire breathing insects!"

"We will do more than hit! We will use heavy artillery to make our way through and reach the queen, which is our primary objective."

That stopped her still. "Wait what?"

"To destroy a nest, we must destroy the queen, for as long as the queen is alive the nest can be rebuilt. But if she dies, it does not mater how many klixen survive as they will be lost without guidance and without the ability to reproduce."

"Well… that means we have to… go inside of the nest?"

"Yes."

"But that… is the Mako even ready for that?"

"… the Mako was made for ground and subterraneous movement. The drill will open path and the canon will serve as the main weapon. With it's plating, we should be able to whithstand the heat of the Klixen attacks. Furthermore, it is capable of carrying two secondary weapons: two smaller turrets for close range firing which are retracted into the vehicle."

"That…" She was actually surprised since she didn't really pay much attention to the Mako. "Well I suppose that maybe I am just overreacting."

"… You are still bothered."

"Yeah, but like you said, we have a mission, I can ignore what bothers me right?"

Delfim looked surprised at her, then a small smile formed in his face before it vanished back to his usual expression. "Machina, tell Richard to prepare Hyper Jump into Krogan DMZ, destination Tuchanka."

"_Yes captain."_

"Yes well… I need to go back to engineering." Said Rhea as she turned away.

Delfim nodded but did not follow her. Once she was out he turned away, smiling. "She is not so bad… I guess I… can work with her…" He then frowned and said "Talking about the lack of undergarments is a embarrassing subject, I should write it down so I don't forget…"

…

The ride to Tuchanka was quick since they were already in space when they got the news and soon they had reached the Krogan homeworld.

"Tuchanka ground control this is USS Nautilus are we clear to descend?" asked Richard.

"**This is Tuchanka ground control, you have permission to land on the airport of Kalos, dock 12. You will have someone there to take you to the Warmaster."**

"Copy that ground control, we are descending now." He then whistled. "Kalos huh? We get to visit their capital? Damn!"

"We are not visiting, we are here to kill klixen and test the Mako."

"_Indeed. Why are we testing the Mako, captain?" _Asked Machina.

"The USA wants to make the M-72 Prowers the new standard military Mako, but for that to happen it has to be tested. Despite how heavily armed and armored it is, if there are mistakes in it's design that could reveal fatal than it would be fatal for USA to rely on them."

"That's a bit risky, if there IS a mistake, you guys are pretty much screwed." Said Richard.

"… I checked the Mako, it should perform as expected. However you are right in the manner that there are risks, yet we must still test it as we are currently the more qualified to do it."

"Alright, you know what you are doing." Said Richard with a smile. "Still, meeting with the Warmaster, huh?"

Wrex had become famous among the krogan, first for curing the genophage, second for surviving the Reaper War and third for leading them afterwards. He was now the living legend, with Krogan everywhere looking up to him. Thus he received the title Warmaster, which meant he was in a level all of his own.

"Yes, it will be interesting to meet Urdnot Wrex in person." Said Delfim.

"I don't know. I would be freaked out: this guy was around when my great grandpa was in diapers! It's kind of intimidating to be around someone like that."

"… the difference in age can be daunting, but his dedication to his people and his friendship with Admiral Shepard would suggest that he wouldn't be overly hostile towards us."

"Overly hostile?" Richard turned to Delfim, eyebrow raised. "OVERLY hostile?"

"Some hostility may be warranted due to Krogan society, in which there are demonstrations of strength in the form of head-butts and other violent gestures. While he has experience dealing with other species, he may still decide to follow tradition."

"And what will you do if he does?" asked Richard. "I mean, if he tries to head-butt you, it might crack your head open."

"… as dictated by krogan society, if I do not respond with a head-butt of my own, I will come out as weak and thus less respected, so I would respond in the same manner: by head-butting him."

"_That could lead to potential injuries, are there no other responses adequate?" _Asked Machina.

"… none that would be effective. Please call Rhokai and Rhea so that we may proceed to the meeting."

Richard nodded. "Got it captain."

Delfim then left the bridge and went to get his armor. As he did, Sekito whined near him. "… no, I will not get your armor, you are not coming on this mission." Sekito barked angrily. "I know you are a war varren, but this is a Mako mission and we are not planning on leaving the Mako…" Sekito whined. "… no, I can not let you accompany us outside of the tank. But you can come with us to meet Wrex."

Sekito barked happily as the door of the elevator closed.

…

Rhea was putting on her armored enviro-suit inside of the sterilized room. Despite their increased immune system and continuous work on improving it further, some caution was still necessary.

Her armored suit was different from her work clothes. Black Light metal plating covered her chest, legs, feet and arms, leaving small patches across it without that plating where a layer of the suit protected the necessary wires which connected her suits hardware, over another layer of the suit to protect her skin. Her visor was plated as well with only a small T like part without any plating revealing the red visor beneath. The lights off the suit were also red, accentuated by the red lines on the limits of her head piece. On the right side of her chest, the symbol of N7 stood proudly.

It was the standard N7 colors on an armor that was nothing like the standard. She had modified this armor since the first time she got it and she was quite proud of herself. The shileds were powered up by a stronger generator, which meant more shields, and the substitution of the suit's software made her tech skills quite more useful.

She took her small firearm, a Thoran, which was a new version of the Arc Pistol. This one was equipped for more shots and more power with the drawback of being more difficult to use on long range. But for those, she had her beauty.

She took her prized weapon with something akin to affection. Her very own N7 Deadshot which, to her, was the most beautiful Sniper Riffle that ever existed. Based on the designs of the Widow that the geth had, but redesign for synthetics like the M-98 was, plus better accuracy with the extra of firing up to 5 shots in a row! The wet dream of snipers.

She stroke the sniper fondly. It took a lot of time, a lot of saving money that she made form hard work, blood and tears. But she finally bought it and boy was she excited about it.

She also took one last precaution: a combat knife. Tali herself admitted that she always carried one in her suit, even though she always had her shotgun loaded. That and the knife was often times useful for other things, forgot a tool, needed to open a tool box, knife coming up.

She then breathed in and out, something she did before all missions: getting herself calm and ready. She trusted the captain's judgement of the Mako, and if he was as smart as she thought he was, he was going to put Rhokai in the big gun, her on the shields, and possibly Isaac integrated with the systems to prevent hacking and monitoring the radar.

She swiftly left the room, which began decontaminating itself as she left. She soon clicked for the elevator, only for it to open and reveal Rhokai. Just like her, he was wearing a black armor with red lights, only his was heavy armored, with a capital H. It looked way to heavy for anyone to carry but a krogan, but he didn't seem to have any problems with it. She entered the elevator with a nod to him, which was returned with a grin.

As they rode the elevator up, she turned to look at his back, where he had two weapons. Fiurst was, of course, his shotgun: an M-450 Claymore, which was the returning of the great Claymore with a boost. It made for easier handling and quicker shoots, while preserving it's legendary power. Next to it was an M-20 Piercer Assault Riffle. A weapon whose rate of shooting would increase the longer you hold the trigger, and shooting shots that pierce armor and cause some serious damage.

"That is one awesome sniper, good taste." Complimented Rhokai with a grin. "Must have cost a fortune."

"It did. But totally worthy." Answered Rhea enthusiastically. "This is the best weapon I have ever laid my hands on."

"Alrigh, I get it kid, you like your toy." Said Rhokai, though you could see that he was not really bothered. "I am trying to get my hands on the new TK-Traitor! Now that is a shotgun."

"I heard about it, more rate of fire, double barrel and blades for close range."

"More shots per charge than the regular Claymore." Stated Rhokai with a dreamy look. "Ah, what I would do with that beauty."

Rhea giggled at his expression. They reached the deck to meet their commander. Just like them, he was wearing the N7 colors on his armor, which was medium weight armor plating with several nodes: one on each soldier, one in the middle of the chest and one in each knee. He also carried a lot of weapons, at least one of each type and Rhea did not have the time to guess them all.

"We must go, they are awaiting for us." He then turned to Rhea and seemed to stare. "… an excellent choice for a sniper, though you should keep on the lookout for the new mods: It allows for more power without destabilizing the weapon."

"Ah, thank you sir, and yes, I do have my eyes on those." Answered Rhea.

"… no, your eyes are on your face. I am not even sure that they sell these mods here on Tuchanka, considering most Krogans don't use snipers. Even then, having your eyes on one could be very bad for lack of vision and…"

Both Rhea and Rhokai burst out laughing. "Captain that is an expression. It means that I know of the mods and am waiting for one that suits the Deadlock."

"… oh, I see…" He then turned away, blushing. "Regardless, we should go, we have a meeting to attend."

"We are following you, captain." Said Rhea, taking position to the right behind him while Rhokai went to the left.

Delfim shook his head and walked ahead, drawing a few more chuckles from Rhea. Once they left the ship, they found three krogans waiting for them. The three were armored with two having their guns out, the middle one not holding a gun.

"Are you captain Delfim Traynor?" asked the middle Krogan. Delfim nodded in answer. "Then follow us, we have a shuttle nearby."

The krogan walked away with Delfim and his group behind, the two new krogans taking the rear. They soon reached a brown shuttle waiting for them.

"Wrex wants to do a debriefing with you, something about the exact location and see if you are worth it and what not." Explained the chaperone.

"… Is the nest near the new city you are building to the south?" asked Delfim, not even turning to the krogan.

"Yeah it is. It's still small and lot's of building is still being made, leaving the place rather vulnerable. The nest is also new, but we don't want to take any chances." The chaperone then frowned and turned to Delfim. "How did you know?"

"… if it was near any of the other three cities, You would have exterminated the klixens fairly quickly. The only reason not to do it is if going after them would leave you vulnerable, hence the idea that the nest would be near a new city, still being built."

"That's about right. Damn critters picked the worst spot to make a nest in."

"… yes, making a nest near a krogan city is a bad idea, however they might have looked into other factors before building the nest. They might not have realized there was a city nearby."

The krogan looked at him oddly while Rhokai and Rhea chuckled behind them. Eventually, the chaperone shrugged and made signal for them to enter.

Once inside, the shuttle took off, revealing the city. A krogan city was… strange. With tall pyramid like buildings contrasting with an underground tunnel network extending way beneath the city. Krogans made this tunnels as an extra tactical advantage: any attack on any side of the city, and krogans could just go through the tunnels to get there quicker and catch them by surprise.

But the best was the vegetation growing around. In any other place, vegetation growing on walls and streets would have looked bad, like the place was abandoned. Here, the lush green look of these plants and how they would entwine with the structures gave it a feeling as if the place was alive.

"Wow, I have never actually been in Tuchanka. This is… beautiful!" said Rhea looking out of the window.

Rhokai smiled. "Yeah… yeah it is…" He then laughed. "This is a good world. It will try to eat you alive, sure, but it's a good world."

"… the planet won't eat you alive as it lacks a digestive system."

"Oh but this planet has it, sir." Said Rhokai, turning to Delfim, who was looking out of the other window. "It's called Tresher Maw!"

Delfim frowned, looked back at Rhokai, confused, and said "The Tresher Maw's are not connected to this planet itself, despite being indigenous to it. Also any nourishment they get from digestion does not directly benefits this planet. Furthermore…"

"Captain, it's an expression!" said Rhea filled with mirth.

Delfim looked away, embarrassed. Even as his crew laughed, to the surprise of the onlookers, Delfim asked "What is that new building?"

"Ha, that is some new weapon developer, got big enough that it's open a third base here." Answered the chaperone. "TK industries if you are wondering."

That shut down Rhokai as he looked at the building in question. Just like many of the others, it seemed to be going for the pyramid design, except that it was only half done and many different people, mainly krogan, were working hard on building it.

Delfim stared at the building before nodding. "So… Tarkal as expanded again…"

Rhokai frowned. "Who is Tarkal captain?"

"Tarkal Karabath. I meet her when she was looking for investors to create a corporation to build more weapons. I found it would be beneficial to invest in her, and did with a considerable amount of credits. In return I got a discount in weapon deals with TK industries which allowed me to afford my weapons. Even got the TK-Traitor for half of it's original price."

Both Rhokai and Rhea froze and then turned to look at his back. Sure enough, collapsed and stuck to his back, with brown plating was a TK-Traitor, gleaning with the stray light that hit it.

"I… I I I!" Rhokai didn't know what to say for a moment then blurted "How did you get that? It only came out two weeks ago?"

"… yes it did, and as a silent partner I got news of it's development before it was open to the market. I was saving for it before it came out." Turning to the speechless krogan, he added. "Would you like me to procure a TK-Traitor for you?"

"Damn right I do!" said Rhokai with a big grin. "How much would that cost?"

"… the 50% deal was a one time thing, but I still have my normal discount of 25%, which would round the price to 6400 credits."

"Great! As soon as you get the weapon, I will pay you the creds. Thank you captain."

"… the quality of my team's equipment is also a priority." Said Delfim before turning to Rhea. "Do you want any weapons?"

"Oh no, my pistol suits me and I don't think TK has a better sniper than this." She said proudly patting her sniper.

Delfim nodded. "Indeed. Snipers are not TK's specialty, but yours is considerably one of the best models in the current market. The accurate scope with thermal option, 5 shots in a row and power behind it are impeccable."

Rhea beamed beneath her armor. Another reason to love the sniper: the awe that it inspired. While many would call it a great sniper or a good one, specialists would droll over it and her captain's reaction, while less enthusiastic, showed that he did appreciate the weapon.

"Which one do you have, sir?" asked Rhea, curious.

"… a Phaser Mk III, it has a good scope and shoots up to 12 shots without reload. However it does not have the power that yours have and it takes more time to reload, so yours is considerably better. However I haven't been able to afford one yet."

"Ah, I see." Said Rhea with a nod. "Well, The Phaser is not bad, but I really don't like the grip on it."

"… yes it is very limiting."

"Let's stop talking about snipers!" said Rhokai. "I'm more interested in your investment on Tarkal!"

"… what about it?"

"Nothing, it's just you helped unleash a monster!" said Rhokai with a grin. "TK is competing with big names now, she might start supplying the army at this rate!"

"… I do not see how that equates to unleashing a monster." Said Delfim. "Unleashing a monster sounds disastrous, but Tarkal's development has allowed for better weapons and more choice to a up until then very particular market."

"Yeah, and that is what I meant! Up until then only a few companies created guns, none krogan or in Tuchanka. Thanks to the new company, things are looking up. Besides it does help that not only TK is a Krogan company, but produces quality weapons."

"I know that, 70% of my armament comes from Tarkal."

"A profitable investment then, huh?"

Delfim nodded with a small smile.

Soon the shuttle settled in front of a big building. The chaperone decided to take control of the visit again. "Alright, follow me. Wrex is right this way."

The building looked far too administrative for a krogan: there were a few desks, 2 rows of krogans waiting to be attended and a few securities here and there. However the group ignored this and followed their guide through a door in the back of the building that led to the elevator.

"Now listen here." Said the krogan as he punched the right key. "Wrex wants to meet with you guys alone, but we will be nearby, don't try anything funny."

"… I do not thing the situation would call for humor, but we will respect your warning nonetheless."

Once again the krogan was left in doubt while Rhokai and Rhea laughed. Once the elevator stopped they were met with another desk where a Krogan was going through some papers and a large red door. At seeing them, he pressed a button and yelled "They are here, Warmaster..." someone yelled over the comn and the krogan nodded at the group. Delfim took the lead and entered the room behind the red door.

The room was quite Spartan, with what amounted to a throne carved out of a rock, a large secretary, and an holographic displayer. Wrex was sitting in the throne and grunted at their arrival.

"So you are the captain huh?" asked Wrex looking him up and down. "You looked bigger in the holo."

"… the hologram tends to change sizes of the person in it, in my hologram, you looked larger."

The krogan snorted. "Well here is what I want you to do." He then snapped his fingers and an interface appeared on his computer, over by the desk. He typed a few keys and a map appeared showing a small city.

"This is Uratha, our new city. However we recently found a nest of klixens beginning to form southwest from it. The problem is if there are klixen, than their predators might be near too…"

"You mean Thresher Maws."

"Yup, the city is too vulnerable, and so far they have kept their distance, but not if the Klixens start making their home there, they are practically delicacies for the Thresher maws. Anywhere where a big nest of them lives is where you will find more Maws."

"I understand the importance of this mission. We will ride there."

"Nah, it's too far away. I have three shuttles ready to take your mako with wire to the place. Once deployed it's your job to enter the nest and kill the queen."

"Understood." Said Delfim. "Is there anything else I should be aware off?"

"The nest is new, just a couple dozen Klixens and a few harvesters at best. You shouldn't have much trouble at all."

Delfim nodded. "We will be moving out then. Thank you for the honor of meeting you."

Wrex laughed. "Repay that honor by killing the klixen then!"

"Understood."

"Dad, you really need to pay more attention to this!" yelled a voice behind the group.

All of them turned to find a young female krogan. She wore the normal female vest, dark green, and she was just a tad shorter than Wrex. At seeing people there she stopped.

"Oh, I thought you were alone."

"Well you thought wrong." Said Wrex before sighing. "Captain, this is my daughter, Urdnot Srekora. Part-time science, full-time annoyance."

"At least I keep you updated on your job." Threw back Srekora. "Are they the ones that are going to take care of the Klixen?"

"Yeah they are. And they should be going already!" As Wrex said that, he turned to them, making both Rhokai and Rhea nervous as he seemed to have grown taller, even if ii was just in their heads.

Delfim and the group left afterwards, meeting the same krogan who said "The shuttle is still waiting for you outside. You can make it back with that."

Delfim nodded at him and left. He looked at Rhea, who still seemed a bit nervous. Delfim pondered what to say. "… In light of the possibility of a Maw attack, I will request Thorin to prepare one of the fighters to give us aerial support if necessary."

Rhea looked startled, specially because he was specifically looking at her when he said it. She nodded. "Thank you, Captain."

"Don't get why, it's just a nest of Klixens." Said Rhokai with a crack of his neck. "And we were just in the presence of Urdnot Wrex. I think that is a far more frightening thing!"

"Why, he is on our side."

"Yeah, but with what he has been through and all… and there is something about his very presence, it's like we are next to a war god who could at any point crush us all."

"Ah, I see." Said Delfim. "You are intimidated by his power."

"You aren't?" asked Rhokai.

"… if I showed any form of weakness, by Krogan law I would be considered inferior. I did not want to give a bad impression in the first meeting."

"Well you succeeded Captain, you have my respect."

…

Thorin was preparing the Mako as three Krogans entered the hangar. "We are here to transport the Mako." Said the first one. "Is this it?"

Thorin looked at the mako. It was larger than the models before, with the main gun above, which was a large canon, a large drill that reached farther than the canon, two turrets, one in each side, two front wheels and four back wheels. "Oh no, I was just bringing this heavily armed vehicle for a ride! Yours is in the box back there what do you think?"

The krogan narrowed his eyes making Thorin nervous. "It was just a joke man! Yes this is it."

"Good, we will prepare to take it. And next time, no funny jokes quarian." Said the Krogan as he called for the three shuttles who came closer.

Thorin sighed in relief. Picking a fight with a krogan in their own planet was not good at all. He watched as they attached cables from the shuttles to the mako. As they did, Delfim and the others came back.

"Oh, captain. The Mako is ready to go and the krogans have just finished hooking him up. Isaac is already integrated into the systems and is ready for the mission."

Delfim nodded then said "I want you to prepare one of the fighters for any eventuality. While the fight will be mostly underground, we might need to take it to the surface. Be in radio contact at all times."

"Yes sir. I will go prepare one immediately." With that Thorin left the group.

"… Rhokai, you take control of the primary gun and weapon systems. Rhea, you take over shields and maintenance. I will drive."

"Copy that." "Yes captain."

They entered the Mako in their respective seats: Delfim in the wheel with Rhea on his side, looking at monitors, Rhokai on the back on a chair connected with wires to the gun above them and a screen which gave him three visuals: one for each weapon.

"_Hello Captain. Do we have coordinates?"_

"Yes, we will be dropped a safe distance away from the place." Delfim then opened his omni-tool. "This is Captain Delfim, we are ready for takeoff, I repeat we are ready for takeoff."

"**Yeah we heard you the first time!" **yelled a krogan.

The three shuttles then proceeded to lift the Mako slowly, the cables tensing with the weight, before they flew out of the hangar.

"I hope we rest after this, what a day." said Rhea.

"It wasn't that bad." Answered Rhokai.

"You practically did nothing the entire mission! I have been working nonstop since we got in the ship. Running on a skeletal crew is not easy!" yelled Rhea.

"Bah, back in my days, we used to work just as much." Said Rhokai with a smirk.

Delfim heard them silently, looking at his screen in silence. Suddenly, a voice was heard through the comn. **"Captain? Can you hear me?"**

This made the arguing pair turn in shock. Delfim decided to answer. "… this is captain Delfim, how did you get this frequency?"

"**Dad gave it to me, I needed to give you some more info." **Srekora said. **"I don't know if you are aware, but Klixens build their nest with a combination of sand, their own saliva and a chemical they produce in their mouth."**

"How is that going to help us?" asked Rhokai impatient.

"… because the result compound is a strong titanium like structure."

"**Right! However your drill should be able to break it. In addition, Klixens will have more of their numbers the closer you are to the queen. And finally, the queen is not immobile while you kill her, she is the meanest of them all!"**

"Keelah, how bad is it?" asked Rhea, unsure again.

"**Think 60 meters tall and ugly, that is a Klixen Queen."**

Delfim frowned. "With that size her movement will be restricted to her chambers. We can corner her there."

"Or be cornered there, that would be fun too." Said Rhokai.

"**The queen can also breathe fire and while slow can take one hell of a hit. Are you sure you and your team can handle this captain?" **

"… I thank you for this information, I believe that yes my team can handle this. However we will contact in case we require backup."

"**Got it. Good luck out there, you will need it." **And with that the comn turned off.

"Keelah, 60 meters tall?" Rhea rubbed her head, turning back to Rhokai. "Does your world have any animal that is not big and man-eating?"

"Yeah, pyjacks!"

"Indeed, pyjacks are small harmless omnivorous creatures. They would fit the bill of not big and man-eating."

Rhokai laughed while Rhea glared at both. "What's got you so nervous anyway? You are N7!"

"Yeah, but quarian's N7s don't go through the same training as Krogan or Human's N7s do! We focus more on overall skills and less on survival tactics. The biggest thing I ever shot at before I finished training was a dummy in the shape of a yahg."

"Yeah, well prepare to add Klixen queen to that list." Said Rhokai.

Delfim was deep in thought. "We need to get a visual of the place before we decide on where to enter. Also we will have to be careful not to trigger any alarms before we enter the nest."

"That will be tough, they settle a perimeter around their nest and check it regularly. Won't be easy to pas without killing one or two." Said Rhokai.

"Killing will be necessary then. It isn't a concern, just as long as they don't raise an alarm and focus their forces on us before we are inside the nest." Said Delfim.

"Why? It won't make a difference will it?" asked Rhea. "I mean, we will be attacked anyway, and in the nest they will have the advantage of knowing the place and us not?"

"Yeah, but if we are detected outside they can spread around us and attack from everywhere. In their tunnels we will make the line of fire more linear." Said Rhokai.

"… also Harvesters don't go inside of the nest, which narrows our enemies numbers quite a bit." Said Delfim. "Outside they could get help from Harvesters and that would complicate things."

"But we will still face them when we leave the nest." Said Rhea.

"Probably, but most Klixen will be dead by then." Answered Rhokai.

"**Captain, we are near the place, we are going to drop you!" **One of the shuttle krogans warned through the comn.

"Thank you. We are close enough to it by now."

When Rhea heard drop, she though they would land them and then fly away. No the ropes just detached, sending them hurling towards the ground and her screaming.

Delfim activated the thrusters and landed it on the ground without a problem. "We are 5 km away from the nest, systems online and we are moving forward." He then turned to Rhea. "You okay?"

Rhea was breathing hard, grabbing her seat with all her strength. "Yeah…" she answered, easing back into the seat. "Just… too sudden."

Delfim nodded. "Rhokai?"

"Nah I'm good." Said Rhokai.

The mako road through the sand, easily adapting to the terrain. "Huh, an anti-sick Mako or what?"

"They increased the stability of the vehicle in this new model as the previous ones had this problem recurrently." Explained Delfim.

"_Captain, we detect something ahead of our position. Medium size."_

"Can you see it, Rhokai?" asked Delfim, his tone changing.

"Yeah, I see it!" yelled Rhokai. "Scout! Over the dune, hasn't spotted us yet. I can get him!"

"Do it."

The canon moved slowly into position and shot. As the mako came over the dune, the result was obvious: a disfigured corpse of a Klixen laid on the ground.

"So how big is this perimeter you were talking about?" asked Rhea.

"About 3km from any direction of the nest. We are close." Said Rhokai.

The mako moved around the carcass, avoiding it as it proceeded. Everyone in the mako was quiet for a while, all on edge to see if they would be spotted by any other scout or even someone from above.

Inevitably, Rhea broke the ice. "So… what does a Klixen nest looks like?"

"Well… it has this… towers of sand I think?" asked Rhokai. "With holes all over it and stuff. I don't know."

"It is build upwards and may assume the form of a large tower of sand or several sticking out of a structure. It is very similar to a termite's nest." Said Delfim. "It possesses a complex network of tunnels with various exits to the exterior which should be guarded.

"So… where is the queen located?" asked Rhea.

"Considering it is a recent colony, the queen must be situated at ground level at this point." Said Delfim. "If they are more advanced, we will have to dig up through the nest, as they tend to move the queen to the center of the nest."

"Yeah, which means that now is the best time to get it with a Mako." Said Rhokai. "Less Klixen, less nest, and direct route."

"And less harvesters, as many don't bother connecting with a new nest until it has gained numbers." Supplemented Delfim.

"Huh… connect sir?" asked Rhea.

"Yes, Harvesters have a partnership with the klixens: they pick klixens and drop them in specific locations so that they can then attack the enemy in close range, which is the klixen's specialty. The harvester gets a part of every hunt it participates in and in larger nest they even have shelter from predators like the Thresher Maws."

At this, the nest became visible in the distance. It was huge, over 300 meters of what looked like mud piling like a very thick and irregular tower with holes all over it, none at ground surface.

"Keelah that is huge!" said Rhea, shocked.

"That is nothing, wait until they grown in numbers, then the nest can grow up to the double of what it is now." Said Rhokai with a smirk.

"… I saw one with the triple of this size in my survival training." Said Delfim. "I don't see any Klixen outside of the nest."

"_The scans indicate that most are on the inside building tunnels at this point." _said Isaac.

"Ah, cannibal phase." Said Delfim.

Everyone turned to Delfim, even Isaac seemed to pop an optic in the screens. "Huh, cannibal sir?"

"Yes, the Klixens have an initial state where they will focus on building the nest. To compensate for the lack of food search, the queen produces an extra amount of eggs, which are then eaten by the colony to sustain them while a small scout unit keeps the queen fed. This period lasts until they have a stable structure."

"You know a lot about them critters." Said Rhokai.

"… Yes, I acquired info about them before my survival training, so I could better understand them." Delfim then frowned. "We will need to open a path through the walls of the nest, I can't seem to find another entrance." He then pulled a lever next to him.

The drill in the front started spinning until it was spinning full power. As it did, Delfim picked up speed and drove directly at the nest. Everybody braced themselves as the drill hit the wall, an excruciating sound coming from it.

As the drill progressed, from the holes above them, Klixens started to pour out. "Rhokai, above us."

"Got it!" yelled Rhokai typing on the consoles at his side.

The two turrets turned up and started firing, nailing Klixen after Klixen off the wall just to fall dead near them. Rhokai roared as he continued to shoot the offenders down.

Suddenly, a loud shrill noise was heard, following by other two similar noises. Isaac was the first to identify the source: _"Captain, three harvesters are flying towards us."_

"Rhokai, can you use the main canon?"

"If the geth can man up the turrests!" yelled Rhokai as he turned to the center console and started to type in command codes.

The canon turned quickly behind and pointed up, the silhouette of the Harvesters was visible, coming closer and carrying a few Klixens on them. "That is it, stay right there where I want you." Whispered Rhokai as he pressed a key.

Suddenly the canon fired, the shot hitting one of the harvesters which screamed even louder before exploding in gore, dropping the klixens it was carrying. The other two flew away from that path, each to it's own side making Rhokai snarl in anger. "Dammit, why did they have to split?"

"It is a sound strategy, maintaining on the same place would ensure their demise." Argued Delfim.

"But makes my life tougher!" yelled Rhokai as he tried to get a lock on another harvester. "Damn, too fast for the canon sir! I can't get a lock on them!"

"Captain, the drill is almost done. If we can open a path we could escape inside the nest and not have to deal with the harvesters for now." Said Rhea.

Delfim nodded. "Reroute energy from non-critical engines to the drill, we need to enter this nest now."

"Yes captain." Said Rhea as she typed on her console.

The drill went even faster while both the turrets and canon kept firing at the enemies. One Klixen fell on top of the Mako, making it tremble with the surprise weight, and Rhokai curse as it made it the weapon turn slower than before.

"Come on, get off you damn bug!" yelled Rhokai as he typed on the console. The Mako shook as something hit from behind. "I think one of the harvesters just dropped a Klixen on our back!"

"No, it dropped a klixen on the back of the Mako." Said Delfim. "Applying alternative methods of defense."

The Klixen was about to blast the back of the Mako when the door fell on it, crushing the bug beneath it before it went back to its original position.

"HA, crushing a bug with the back door, nice!" yelled Rhokai.

The canon turned enough so the corpse fell to the side, to Rhokai's joy. He then started to aim again and nailed another Harvester who was about to drop another Klixen, making it twirl it's way against the nest and fall dead.

Meanwhile, the wall finally gave away allowing for the Mako to drive through. Once incide the mako didn't stop, turning to the right and following the tunnel even as they were chasen by more Klixen.

However the bugs soon found themselves at a serious disadvantage: all guns of the mako had turned back, and where firing at them like there was no tomorrow. One after another they fell to the ground, forcing those following to climb on top of it's brethren's corpses.

"Where to?" asked Rhea.

"The queen should be equally distant from the outer walls of the nest." Said Delfim. "Isaac, calculate possible position."

"_Calculating… calculated, turn left and keep going forward."_

"Keep using the radar and calculate fastest route to the queen." Said Delfim.

"_Acknowledged. Warning, Klixens ahead."_

A group of klixens was awaiting them, forming a makeshift barricade by themselves, ready to fire at them.

"Rhea, direct more energy to our thrusters, we are going to break through them." Said Delfim.

"Yes sir!" yelled Rhea.

The mako picked up speed until it was going fast enough to blast it's way through the barricade, even as they fired. The armor of the mako held under fire and even under gore as they were torn apart by the hit.

"That's how you kill Klixen, run them over!" yelled Rhokai, amused to no end.

"Are they still following us?" asked Delfim.

Rhokai fired a few more shots and then answered. "Not anymore. And we should be getting closer now, so there should only be the queen now."

"This mission has been going pretty well actually." Said Rhea, now more enthusiastic. "This isn't so bad."

"Ha, wait until we meet the queen. Then you will change your tune." Said Rhokai with a smirk.

This of course cause Rhea to become worried again.

"_We are reaching the queen. The thermal readings indicate a large figure ahead, roughly 60 meters, matches the queen's description."_

"Thank you Isaac." Said Delfim. "Rhea, how are our systems?"

"Systems green and as ready as they can be." Said Rhea.

"Rhokai?"

"Weapons clear!"

"Good. I see the entrance."

Ahead of them, the tunnel opened outward, leading to a very large chamber, filled with holes along the walls just like the one they were coming out off. Of course, most of the chamber was occupied by the queen. Tall, very tall with red endoskeleton, she walked on 6 legs, with two extra acting as scythes. Her body was weird: the abdomen was almost 2/3rds of her body, with the rest being slender and arced, contrary to normal klixens. Her head however showed she was Klixen as she screeched at them.

"Fire at the legs, destabilize her." Said Delfim.

"Got it!" yelled Rhokai as he aimed and fired the main canon.

He hit the leg, which made the queen mad and breathe fire towards them. The mako moved forward, avoiding the fire by a very small margin.

The queen, seeing that her fire missed, tried to hit them with her scythe-like hands. The mako maneuvered with quick turns and quick bursts of speed to avoid the attacks while Rhokai aimed again.

Another shot hit a leg on the left this time, the middle one, which made the queen step back unsure as she started to take damage. She then screeched loudly and klixens started to pour around them.

"More of them! They are coming from every hole!" yelled Rhea.

"No, only from around 80% of them, they have yet to use…" said Delfim before he stopped and shook his head. "Never mind, 81%."

"I don't think that really matters right now, captain!" yelled Rhea.

Rhokai nailed another leg, sending the queen falling to the ground, hard. As he did, the mako's guns cleared a group of klixens attacking from the sides while Delfim ran over those that tried to stand in the way.

"Rhokai, target the head now."

"Yes captain."

Rhokai aimed the shot and charged the canon. He wanted to be done with this one in one go, before the creature could try poking holes in the Mako again. The shot rang louder than any before, and exploded in her face with a force enough to tear part of her face of, eliciting a scream of pain from the queen.

"YEAH eat that bitch!" roared Rhokai

"The Klixen queen is not a female dog nor bound to promiscuous behavior, in fact she has one partner with whom she procreates once…"

"Captain, focus on driving the freaking MAKO!"

The queen got up before Rhokai could fire another shot, blood dripping from her face and fiercely pissed off. She screeched and prepare to attack when a deep rumbling was heard, making her look around in fear.

"_Captain, we are detecting some sort of seismic activity."_

"And earthquake?" asked Rhea.

"Hope that it is." Said Rhokai, looking just as nervous. "Or we are in trouble."

Just as he finished saying this, the wall to the right of the queen erupted and the mouth of a Thresher Maw latched onto her abdomen. Just then the wall to her right erupted on a similar fashion, a second mouth latching onto her head.

"THRESHER MAW!" yelled Rhea.

"And it brought a date to!" yelled Rhokai.

"… interesting, they are normally solitary and rarely hunt in groups." Said Delfim, looking in awe even as they attacked the now dead queen with abandon. "Maybe they are still young and decided to work together in order to survive…"

"Captain, get us out of here!" yelled Rhokai. "Before we become part of the menu!"

As he said that, both Maws turned towards the noise, seeing a new prey.

"I believe that we already are an option." Said Delfim, still calm as ever. "Isaac, contact Thorin and put him on the line."

"_Acknowledged."_

The Maws roared which was all the signal needed for Delfim to pull the mako back and drive through the same tunnel they had come from, this time at a much faster pace than before.

"Rhokai, shoot behind and try to at least confuse them."

"Won't make any promises!" yelled Rhokai as he fired away.

"Rhea, keep shields running at all times, we cannot afford to let them get us in here."

"YES SIR!" yelled Rhea.

"**Captain, do you copy?" **Thorin's voice echoed through the comn.

"Thorin, we are being pursued by two Thresher Maws and we are bringing them to the surface. We will need aerial support."

"**TWO TRESHER MAWS?" **His scream fizzled through the comn. **"Don't worry captain, Isaac just sent me your location. I'll be there as fast as I can!"**

Rhokai fired a few shots which were ineffective as it only hit their thick skull. "Dammit we are where they want us! Underground they are one of the fastest creatures of Tuchanka!"

"Yes, but the material from which the nest is made will slow them down until we can get to the surface." Said Delfim.

"And then what?" asked Rhokai.

"And then we kill them." Said Delfim.

The entire nest trembled around them as the Maws burrowed their way after the mako. One of the spitted an acid which hit the back of the Mako.

"Sir, we were hit!" yelled Rhea.

"Hold the report until we are out of the nest!"

The light shining from the broken wall almost looked angelic, an heavenly escape from a nightmarish hell. And as the Mako rode out of the hall, it broke apart as the two Thresher Maws burst from it only to burry in the ground beneath.

"Report! How are our systems?" asked Delfim as he kept driving away, not stopping as the spines of both the maws poke out of the sand in their pursuit.

"Our shields took quite a hit, Lost 20% of their power. I am repairing it the best I can." Said Rhea.

"Rhokai, can you get a shot?"

"Not like this! They are stuck underground there is nothing to shoot at!"

"Need to think… priority, we need to guide them away from the city." Said Delfim.

"Except now they are back in sand, so they will be much faster." Reminded Rhokai.

And indeed they were. They seemed to slither in the sand as if sharks on water, following a trail of blood. Delfim drove away from the city, trying to buy time for a new tactic.

One of them dove underground while the other remained in pursuit, following the mako closely. Just as they were about to turn, the other Thresher Maw burst out of the ground before them.

"TAKE THAT!" yelled Rhokai as he fire with both the turrets.

The creature hissed as the other burst out of the ground. Now both were standing up, with the Mako in between. Delfim turned to the right and avoided an acid shot at the last minute.

"Rhokai, take your chance and aim for the body, they use their heads to dig through, so it is naturally their hardest part." Said Delfim as he turned to drive zs around the various shots by the two monsters.

"I kind of figured that one out." Said Rhokai as he pointed the canon. "Taste that!"

The shot hit one of the Thresher Maws, who buried himself back. The other kept shooting acid as if nothing happened, and managed to hit the Mako on the side.

"Sir, shields dropped, we are at 67%" yelled Rhea.

Delfim frowned. "This is not what I planned for, I planned for one Thresher Maw, not two, and this is not going well. Rhokai, keep firing at the one that is…"

As Delfim was about to finish his order, the second one burst right behind them, his maw coming dangerously fast towards the mako.

Only for it to be shot from above, making the beast turn to recive more fire.

"**Captain, this is Thorin!" **The fighter flew above them. It was small, Alliance blue in color, with white wings that pointed behind. He fired at the Maw again, which made it focus completely on him. **"I will try to get it's attention."**

"Thorin, aim for the body, not the head." Said Delfim. "Maintain evasive maneuvers but keep close enough to keep him interested."

"**Roger that sir."**

"This gives us a chance. Rhokai where is the other?" asked Delfim.

"Lost it, must have burrowed down."

"Then we can't stay still!" yelled Delfim as he once again made the Mako go full throttle.

Just as he predicted, the other maw's spine poked out of the sand, coming after them.

Meanwhile, Thorin flew circles around the maw, often time breaking the circle to deliver a round of shots at it. The various hits were starting to show as blood poured out of them.

"Take that you Bosh'tet!" yelled Thorin as he delivered yet another round.

Rhokai took notice and yelled "Captain, if I can time a charged shot, I can kill one of them."

"Do it!"

The Maw screeched as it tried to get the annoying bug above it only to be filled with pain as his side burned with the attack. It fell down, limp and lifeless.

"**Captain, one is down, the other is in your pursuit!"**

"I know that. Rhokai prepare another charge."

"Got it, but the beast is not poking out!" said Rhokai.

"I know. Now that there is only one, it's time to start delta tactic vs Maw."

Rhea was confused. "What is delta tactic? I never heard of it!"

"It´s a personal tactic." He then pulled the lever on the drill, which made it start spinning.

Rhea connected the dots, horrified. "Oh no…"

Delfim ignored her as he turned the Mako around, this time driving towards the Thresher Maw. The beast, sensing it's prey coming near, burst out towards it, trying to swallow it whole.

Only to get a nasty surprise as it tried to bite the drill. The rotating menace shredding through the soft tissue of the mouth and making it bleed profoundly as it roared in pain, letting go of the mako and roaring in pain.

But Delfim did not stop his advance, burrowing the drill in the body of the maw who twisted in pain. "Fire now!"

Rhokai did, and the blast at close range filled the window with blood and gore. The sound of the carcass falling was the only indication that the thing was dead, as they could see nothing through the glass.

There was a pregnant silence in the Mako. Then, Delfim nodded. "The shields and armor of the mako are acceptable, the weapon systems seem operational. Despite it all, I believe that the mission was successful."

Rhokai laughed his ass off while Rhea mask-palmed. "Captian, you bosh'tet."

**Author Notes:**

**Delfim: **So this was a big one. Hope you liked it cause I don't know when I will upload it again. If I can upload, next chapter will be a ground mission, with the ground team, no Mako.

**Codex:**

**Tuchanka: **Homeworld of the Krogans, now thriving with new life and prosperity. Apparently the cure of the genophage affected more than the krogan, as the plants began to grow around the planet, turning previously arid places into fertile ground. The krogans made good use of their new found resource and this allowed them to expand. Now, Tuchanka has 3 cities, a fourth is being built.

**TK Industries: **Tech-krogan, an independent weapon builder company started by Tarkal Karabath. Currently famous by their TK-Traitor in both Krogan and non-krogan version, this company is a rising star in Tuchanka, allowing for krogans to dedicate to what they know best: wage war, the best way possible. It is also behind up to 15 new weapons in the market.

**Klixen's codex would just be a copy past from ME 2, so…**

**Klixen Queen: **Beware he who enters the queen's lair, for he won't leave there. Old translated Krogan proverb, speaking of the dangers of facing the queen of Klixens. She is the biggest and strongest of her kind, able to lay up to 300000 eggs per year. However she won't stay idle, as she can and will defend herself against any intruder. Only known predator is a Thresher Maw, which they fear with a passion, to the point of paralyzing them in fear.

I am sorry I didn't develop more here, but it's 4 in the morning and I need to hit the sack. Peace Out.


End file.
